The first criminal trial against a U.S. president begins Monday as prosecutors and defense attorneys gather in a Manhattan courtroom to begin selecting the jury that will decide Donald J. Trump's fate.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg charged Trump with 34 felonies, accusing him of falsifying documents to cover up a sex scandal with a porn star.
The case is one of four charges facing the former president and potential Republican candidate, and could change the political landscape ahead of Election Day.
Jury selection could take more than two weeks and the trial could last into June. Trump is expected to be in court for much of the trial, giving his campaign the solemn atmosphere of criminal proceedings.
This sight will be something to behold. A former president is forced to confront a part of his past that he tried to bury, but which could end up turning him into a felon. In 2016, Mr. Trump's former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, paid porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to reveal her story about her sexual encounter with Mr. Trump a decade earlier. I bought silence.
Trump may take the stand to defend himself, but has denied any sexual contact. But prosecutors allege that he forged a series of documents to hide the repayments to Mr. Cohen.
Trump will likely test the patience of judges and the limits of the judicial system as he seeks to defend himself in court and on the campaign trail. Judge Juan M. Machan has already imposed a gag order, barring the former president from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, jurors, or judges' families.
The 12 selected jurors will have to decide Mr. Cohen's story for themselves. Mr. Cohen is expected to be the prosecution's star witness, and he will face his boss, whom he once admired but now despises.
Jury selection is very important to both sides. Even a good case means little to an unfriendly jury. Prosecutors have some advantage because the jurors are drawn from Manhattan, one of the most Democratic counties in the country. Trump's team will be looking for a red needle in a blue haystack.
Here's what else you need to know about Trump's trial.
Which case is this?
This is the Manhattan criminal case against Trump. The lawsuit was filed by Mr. Bragg in March 2023. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, and if convicted, he could face up to four years in prison. This is the first criminal trial for a former president and could be the only one before the 2024 presidential election.
His other three criminal cases, including accusations that he mishandled classified documents and plotted to overturn his 2020 election loss, have been delayed. And two recent civil lawsuits, one for defamation and one for fraud, concluded earlier this year, with Trump facing judgments exceeding $500 million.
Judge selection
Hundreds of potential jurors were subpoenaed. Almost everyone will be fired. Judge Machan plans to excuse jurors who claim they are unable to be fair and impartial or who are otherwise reluctant to serve.
The rest were compiled before the trial, including which media outlets they follow, whether they support the pro-Trump QAnon movement or the far-left anti-fascist group Antifa, and whether they have read Cohen's books.42 will answer the questions.
Both sides can dismiss a limited number of jurors without explanation. Lawyers can also request that a juror be dismissed for “just cause,” providing specific reasons why they believe the juror is not fair and impartial. The remaining 12 will be put to death, along with several alternates in case any of the original 10 must be excused during the trial.
lawyers
Trump's lead lawyer is Todd Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and white-collar defense attorney who has staked his professional future on representing the former president.
The defense team includes Susan Necheres, an experienced New York defense attorney who represented Trump's company in the 2022 Manhattan criminal trial, and Susan Necheres, who has worked as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan and led several cases. There is also Emile Beauve, who has been in power. Trump's efforts to delay.
Mr. Bragg, like Mr. Blanche and Mr. Bove, is a veteran prosecutor and has assembled some of the same lawyers who helped convict Mr. Trump's firm. They include Joshua Steinglass, a longtime homicide prosecutor, and Susan Hoffinger, the office's chief investigator.
The team also includes Matthew Colangelo, a former Justice Department official hired by Mr. Bragg, and Chris Conroy, who was part of Mr. Trump's investigation team from the beginning.
Other hush money transactions
The charges relate to payments to Daniels, but Bragg's office is expected to highlight two other transactions as well. Both involve the National Enquirer, which has long ties to Trump.
In the first deal, the tabloid paid $30,000 to a former doorman employed by the Trump Organization who had heard rumors that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock, a rumor that turned out to be false. found. The publication subsequently determined the claim to be false.
In another deal, the National Enquirer paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal to promote her affair with Trump. She reached a $150,000 agreement with the tabloid, which bought the rights to her article in order to suppress it. This is a practice known as “catch and kill.”
Prosecutors say the hush-money deal shows Trump orchestrated a broader scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election by keeping damaging stories hidden.
witness list
The list of potential witnesses, to be revealed in court Monday, is expected to be similar to Trump's list of campaign aides, employees and friends from 2016.
In addition to Cohen, Mr. Bragg's office is expected to summon David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer, and Hope Hicks, a former campaign and White House aide to Mr. Trump. Daniels and McDougall are also potential witnesses.
And while Trump said Friday he plans to testify in his own defense, that is not a certainty.
gag order
The trial is a realization of Trump's long-held fears that prosecutors would turn trusted aides into dangerous witnesses. To avoid such situations, he has sought to control potential witnesses through a mix of temptation (covering legal costs) and intimidation (attacks on social media and at rallies).
Mr. Cohen has taken the brunt of the attacks, with Mr. Trump calling him a “rat” and “death.” On Saturday, Trump again attacked Cohen on social media, calling him a “disgraceful lawyer and felon,” at the risk of violating Judge Marchand's gag order.
Mr. Trump also targeted Judge Marchand's daughter, a Democratic political consultant, and called for the judge's removal. Judge Machan refused to recuse herself from her case, citing a Judicial Ethics Commission ruling that found her daughter's work did not create a conflict for the judge.
court security
There will be heavy security at the courthouse, located at 100 Center Street in Lower Manhattan.
The U.S. Secret Service will protect Trump, court officials will search anyone who entered the building, and police officers will patrol nearby streets where protesters and counterprotesters could clog public squares. It's planned.