Donald Trump arrived at the New York court on Monday morning where his historic trial must begin to address the accusations against him, and shed harsh light on the behind-the-scenes of his conquest of the White House in 2016.
After a first week devoted to jury selection, the stage is set: 12 full jurors, seven men and five women, and six alternates, are ready to judge the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, in the case of hidden payments to buy the silence of a former porn star just before the 2016 election.
“It’s a very, very, sad day for America,” said Donald Trump before entering the courtroom, denouncing as usual “a witch hunt” and a political operation carried out since the White House.
The case threatens Donald Trump with conviction and a possible prison sentence a few months before the presidential election on November 5, where he dreams of a revenge against Joe Biden.
For Bennett Gershman, former New York prosecutor and law professor at Pace University in New York, “this is going to be probably the most sensational trial in American history.”
“The stakes are almost endless. »
On his Truth Social platform, the Republican billionaire once again fulminated during the night from Sunday to Monday against Juan Merchan, the judge who presides over the proceedings, whom he described as “corrupt”.
“It’s a sham” trial, Donald Trump also wrote in capital letters.
Charges
On Monday, Manhattan prosecutors must present the charges to the jury and try to demonstrate that the case goes well beyond the 34 falsifications of accounting documents from the Trump Organization accused of the 77-year-old Republican billionaire.
According to the prosecution, these alleged forgeries made it possible to conceal, under the cover of “legal fees”, the payment of US$130,000 to actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about a sexual relationship ten years earlier with Donald Trump , while he was married to his wife Melania.
Donald Trump has always denied this relationship, and in his defense, who will speak after the prosecutors, the payments fall within the private sphere.
Prosecutor Alvin Bragg’s team intends to prove that these were, on the contrary, fraudulent maneuvers to hide information from voters a few days before the vote and the Republican’s narrow victory against Hillary Clinton.
Several witnesses are expected to reveal the underbelly of the campaign and say that other embarrassing allegations had been suppressed thanks to the complicity of an American tabloid which bought the information so as not to publish it.
“Every day we are going to hear testimony that is damaging to Donald Trump,” predicts Bennett Gershman.
Credibility
The jurors will be confronted, among others, with the testimonies of Stormy Daniels herself, or of Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who has become one of his worst enemies. It was he who paid the actress – at the request of his boss, he assures – with his own funds, and he has already been convicted by the courts in this case.
The defense intends to attack the credibility of this witness, also convicted of lying before Congress.
Donald Trump castigates an empty file and denounces political persecution by increasing the invectives against Judge Juan Merchan and Alvin Bragg. Prosecutors also asked the judge to sanction him for violating the ban on attacking witnesses and jurors, an issue that will be debated Tuesday.
Donald Trump’s mandatory presence at his hearings prevents him from campaigning normally, while his rival Joe Biden tries to score points by plowing the field. On Saturday, the Republican had to cancel a meeting in North Carolina because of bad weather.
The stakes are all the higher as this trial could be the only one to conclude before the presidential election, among the four criminal cases targeting Donald Trump.
He is accused in particular before federal justice in Washington of “conspiracy against American institutions” for his allegedly illicit attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election.