Trump ‘orchestrated criminal conspiracy to corrupt 2016 election’, court hears

Donald Trump “orchestrated a criminal conspiracy to corrupt” the 2016 election through a string of hush money payments, prosecutors said as he became the first former president to face a criminal trial.

Mr Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, was accused of scheming with Michael Cohen, his former fixer, and David Pecker, the former president and chief executive of American Media Inc (AMI), to “influence the 2016 presidential election”.

The allegations include paying off women who claimed to have had sexual encounters with Mr Trump, including $130,000 to “silence” Stormy Daniels, a porn star.

“At Trump’s direction, Cohen negotiated a deal to buy Ms Daniels’ story to prevent American voters from hearing that story before election day,” lawyer Matthew Colangelo told jurors.

Mr Trump then tried to cover up the “catch-and-kill” scheme by lying in his business records “over and over and over again”, Mr Colangelo said on the first day of the trial.

Todd Blanche, Mr Trump’s defence lawyer, hit back at the allegations, claiming his client was innocent and that there was “nothing wrong with trying to influence an election”. He added: “It’s called democracy,” saying Mr Trump was “cloaked in innocence”.

The former president is accused of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to bury stories he thought might hurt his 2016 presidential campaign. Prosecutors say he obscured the true nature of such payments in internal business documents.

Mr Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Ms Daniels and has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.

The case is seen by many legal experts as the least consequential of the four criminal indictments Mr Trump is facing, but it may be the only one to reach a courtroom before Nov 5, the date of the presidential election. While a guilty verdict would not bar him from taking office, it could hurt his candidacy.

Mr Trump appeared subdued in court and spent the roughly three-hour session staring at the judge or into the distance, occasionally whispering to his lawyers. Dressed in a navy blue suit and blue tie, the 77-year-old appeared most animated when he turned to watch Mr Blanche deliver his opening remarks.

During a 45-minute opening statement, prosecutors said Mr Trump tried to disguise $420,000 in payments to Mr Cohen as legal services, when in fact they were meant to reimburse him for paying off Ms Daniels.

“It was election fraud, pure and simple,” said Mr Colangelo. He also talked about arrangements made for AMI to pay a former Playboy model $150,000 to suppress her claims of a nearly year-long affair with Mr Trump.

Mr Blanche called Mr Trump “innocent” and said the Manhattan district attorney’s office “should never have brought this case.”

“There’s nothing illegal about what you will hear happened among the National Enquirer, AMI, David Pecker and Donald Trump,” he said, adding: “It’s not a scheme, unless a scheme means something that doesn’t matter, that’s not illegal.”

Mr Blanche also attempted to pour scorn on the prosecution’s arguments and witnesses. He claimed Ms Daniels “saw her chance to make a lot of money” before the election by signing a non-disclosure agreement, and had  “no idea” about documents central to the case. “Her testimony, whilst salacious, does not matter,” he said.

He said Mr Cohen “cannot be trusted” because he had a criminal record and was “obsessed” with Mr Trump, and had “talked extensively about his desire to see President Trump go to prison”.

“You cannot make a serious decision about President Trump, relying on the words of Michael Cohen,” he added.

Prosecutors had tried to prepare jurors for attacks on Mr Cohen, saying they suspected “the defence will go to great lengths to get you to reject his testimony, precisely because it is so damning”.

Following opening statements, the prosecution called its first witness, Mr Pecker, who was on the stand for 20 minutes before the court adjourned for the day. Prosecutors had earlier argued that Mr Pecker’s role as Mr Trump’s “eyes and ears” was the “core of the conspiracy”.

Mr Pecker told the court about how publications he ran, such as the National Inquirer, used “chequebook journalism”, which involves paying sources for stories. He said he “gave a number to the editors that they could not spend more than $10,000” on a story without his approval.

The trial, expected to last six weeks, will resume on Tuesday with a hearing over whether Mr Trump violated a gag order. Mr Pecker’s testimony will then resume.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Trump called on his supporters to stage protests at courts around the country as he arrived at Manhattan Criminal Court.

“America Loving Protesters should be allowed to protest at the front steps of Courthouses, all over the Country, just like it is allowed for those who are destroying our Country on the Radical Left,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Free Speech and Assembly has been ‘chilled’ for USA supporters. Go out and peacefully protest… Save our country!”