Donald Trump’s Election Influence: What This First Criminal Trial of Ex-President Tells Us

On Monday, the first criminal trial of former President Donald Trump began in New York. The case involves allegations that Trump paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels in an alleged extramarital affair and hid the payment from his company’s records. Trump has always denied the relationship.

As he arrived at court, the former president once again called the case “clear electoral interference,” given that he is a favorite to run for president as a Republican in November. The jury, consisting of 12 people, began hearing arguments from prosecutors who filed a complaint against the former president.

The prosecution argued that the expense Trump incurred at the time was a campaign expense that he hid, resulting in the need for a trial. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and now presenting arguments against him, claimed that Trump orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election by hiding payments made to Daniels.

Judge Juan Merchan instructed jurors to base their decisions solely on the evidence presented in court and avoid reading or listening to reports of the case in the press. This is just one of four criminal trials facing Trump as a defendant. A small group of protesters gathered at the court entrance shouting “no one is above the law.”

In this phase of opening arguments, Judge Merchan informed that the session would end before 2pm due to a medical emergency for an alternate juror. Meanwhile, Trump declined to answer questions about Melania Trump’s whereabouts during previous days when she had been absent from public sight.