And so it begins….the first criminal trial of an American president as Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying campaign documents in 2016 to conceal a sex scandal with porn star Stormy Daniels. While hush money payments aren’t necessarily illegal, lying on federal campaign documents to cover up the payments is a no-no. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison. The first phase of the trial will focus on jury selection. As the trial began, Team Trump made a final attempt to have Judge Juan M. Merchan recuse himself, but that failed, like all previous similar attempts. https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1779890489111519247 From the New York Times (free gift link):
Before beginning the arduous process of selecting a jury for the landmark trial — on allegations that Mr. Trump falsified documents to conceal a sex scandal involving a porn star in 2016 — the judge announced his decision to remain on the case, rejecting Mr. Trump’s latest effort to oust him.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which brought the case against Mr. Trump, appeared likely to ask the judge to hold Mr. Trump in contempt for violating a gag order that bars him from attacking witnesses in the case.
Over the weekend, Mr. Trump assailed one of the prosecution’s key witnesses — his former fixer, Michael D. Cohen — on social media.
Trump has repeatedly violated the gag order imposed on everyone involved in the trial. The Donald has attacked key witnesses and the judge’s daughter on his social media. https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1779836909021245699 https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1779891196225065262 UPDATE: According to reports, Donald Trump appears to be sleeping at times during the proceedings. https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1779917161651188128
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