(New York) The criminal trial of Donald Trump concluded on Friday in New York a first week of debates devoted to the role of a scandal tabloid in his conquest of the White House in 2016, a prelude to the heart of the affair.
In this case, one of four in which he is indicted, Donald Trump is being prosecuted for 34 counts of falsification of accounting documents, to conceal a payment which made it possible to cover up a potential sex scandal in the home stretch of the presidential campaign. 2016.
The money, $130,000, was paid to former porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about a sexual relationship she claimed to have had with him in 2006, when he was already married to her marries Melania. A relationship that the Republican candidate for the November presidential election denies.
Friday, the 45the President of the United States, with drawn features and a serious face, once again saw the 12 jurors and six alternates who will decide his judicial fate walk in front of him to their benches, without addressing him a glance.
Just before entering the courtroom, he wished his wife a happy birthday in front of the cameras and again mocked a “horrible and unconstitutional” trial which forces him to spend his days in a “frozen” courtroom rather than to campaign. Then, leaving the audience, he took up the challenge of a televised debate with his opponent Joe Biden, “whenever he wants”.
Scandals
Between the two, the one who risks a criminal conviction before the election attended for hours, often attentive, sometimes slumped in his chair looking drowsy, to the rapid interrogation of the first witness of the prosecution, the former tabloid boss David Pecker.
Because for the moment, the debates have mainly focused on payments prior to that of Stormy Daniels.
Since Monday, David Pecker, who held the title The National Enquirerdetailed how, after a meeting at Trump Tower in August 2015 in New York with his “friend Donald” and his lawyer at the time Michael Cohen, he put himself at their service during the 2016 presidential campaign to chase away scandals by purchasing exclusive rights to popular stories.
An operation carried out twice: $30,000 to suppress the – false – allegations of a Trump Tower doorman about the existence of a hidden child of Donald Trump, then $150,000 to acquire the story of Karen McDougal , model for Playboy magazine, who said she had an affair with the billionaire.
“We bought this story so that it would not be published elsewhere. We didn’t want it to embarrass Mr. Trump or affect his campaign,” explained David Pecker.
This thin 72-year-old man, with a receding hairline and white hair combed back, recounted how Donald Trump had expressed concern several times about Karen McDougal’s silence. “How is our daughter?” », he would have asked him when receiving him at Trump Tower after his victory.
Contempt
During the defense’s cross-examination on Friday, David Pecker had to clarify that during a conversation about Karen McDougal, Donald Trump had told him “I don’t buy the stories”, adding “see with Michael (Cohen)”. One of Donald Trump’s lawyers, Emil Bove, also worked to demonstrate that these operations called “catch and kill” in the United States were banal, making David Pecker mention the names of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Tiger Woods .
ILLUSTRATION JANE ROSENBERG, REUTERS
The former boss of National EnquirerDavid Pecker
But this testimony allowed the prosecution to set the scene for the case. On Friday, two other witnesses took the stand, a former direct assistant to Donald Trump at the Trump Organization, Rhona Graff, and a banker, Gary Farro, who managed the affairs of lawyer Michael Cohen.
The first indicated that the contacts of Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels were stored in an email address book that she managed at the Trump Organization. She also remembered, without giving a precise date, having seen Stormy Daniels at Trump Tower, but according to her for a place on the reality TV show which had increased Donald Trump’s celebrity tenfold, The Apprentice.
For his part, Donald Trump already sees the threat of a conviction for contempt of court, at the request of prosecutors, for his attacks, via the internet and social networks, against witnesses and jurors. Judge Juan Merchan has yet to rule on this point.
The debates will resume on Tuesday.