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(NEW YORK) — Day 5 of Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial was also the first day of legal arguments before jurors.

Proceedings lasted little more than three hours on Monday, but both parties delivered opening statements, lifting the veil on arguments they plan to present over the coming weeks.

The former president is on trial in New York on felony charges of falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement of a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

Prosecutors on Monday framed the case as “election fraud, pure and simple” and implored jurors to exercise common sense as they digest the evidence. Defense attorneys sought to distance Trump from any alleged wrongdoing and laid the groundwork to undermine key government witnesses, including Cohen and Daniels.

Before court adjourned, prosecutors called their first witness: David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, who prosecutors allege engaged in a conspiracy with Trump and Cohen to help influence the election by killing negative stories about Trump.

Pecker is due to return to the stand Tuesday morning, after the judge in the case hears arguments about Trump’s alleged violation of a court-imposed limited gag order.

Here are Monday’s top four takeaways.

Prosecutors allege election fraud

Prosecutors presented a detailed overview of the case they plan to present to jurors, which they described as a “criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.”

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo described what he called a three-pronged scheme to promote Trump in the tabloid media, run negative stories about his opponents, and conspire to catch and kill negative stories about Trump.

Prosecutors said the release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump bragged of grabbing women, had an “explosive” effect on the campaign, and called the campaign’s efforts to quell potentially damning voices — like Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal — “election fraud, pure and simple.”

Defense says ‘none of this was a crime’

Todd Blanche, the lead attorney for Donald Trump, argued that the alleged conduct described by prosecutors was nothing more than politics as usual.

“I have a spoiler alert,” Blanche told jurors during his opening statement. “There is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It’s called democracy.”

“There is nothing illegal about entering into a nondisclosure agreement,” he continued. “Period.”

Blanche, over objections from prosecutors, argued repeatedly that Trump had done nothing wrong. He argued that, while the Trump Organization was paying Michael Cohen for his services, Trump was busy “in the White House while he was running the country.”

Cohen’s credibility is addressed

One major theme emerged in both parties’ opening statements: the reliability of Michael Cohen.

How the jury perceives Cohen’s testimony could dictate the outcome of this trial — a reality that was reflected Monday in opening statements from both prosecutors and defense counsel.

“During this trial you’re going to hear a lot about Michael Cohen,” Colangelo said, in what was perhaps the biggest understatement of the day.

Prosecutors acknowledged that Cohen comes with “baggage” that includes lying under oath. But they encouraged jurors to put Cohen’s allegations in the context of other evidence and testimony they will hear.

Blanche argued that the jury cannot convict Trump “by relying on the words of Michael Cohen.”

“He has a goal, an obsession, with getting Trump. I submit to you he cannot be trusted,” Blanche said.

Pecker testifies about ‘checkbook journalism’

A smiling David Pecker took the stand as the government’s first witness, to testify about his role in the alleged hush payment scheme supposedly orchestrated at Trump’s behest.

Pecker, a longtime tabloid editor whom Trump has called a “close friend,” described the editorial process at the National Enquirer as “checkbook journalism.”

“I had the final say of the celebrity side of the magazine,” Pecker said. “We used checkbook journalism. We paid for stories.”

Pecker, who is testifying under subpoena and secured a non-prosecution agreement, will return to the stand on Tuesday.

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(NEW YORK) — Federal prosecutors charged a man with hate crimes Monday for allegedly breaking into and vandalizing the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University during Eid al-Fitr two weeks ago.

Jacob Beacher, 24, was arrested after investigators said they determined he broke into the center on the New Brunswick, New Jersey, campus on April 10 and vandalized several items, including Turbah prayer stones and art pieces with Quranic verses.

Beacher, who is not affiliated with the university, also allegedly stole a charity box and a Palestinian flag from the center, according to investigators.

The charity box was found four days later in a park near the campus, the criminal complaint said.

Some Muslim members of the campus told New York ABC station WABC they were in shock and horror over the vandalism.

“It’s so disheartening and scary because it just solidifies the fact that we aren’t safe here,” Nehad Ali told WABC a day after the incident.

The FBI used surveillance footage and cellphone data to determine Beacher was a suspect, according to the criminal complaint.

When investigators interviewed Beacher on April 12, he admitted to being in the area of the center during the incident but denied breaking into it, the complaint alleged.

Beacher was awaiting arraignment in Newark federal court on one count of intentional or attempted obstruction of religious practice and one count of making false statements to federal authorities, according to federal prosecutors.

State charges against Beacher are also pending, according to investigators. Attorney information for the suspect wasn’t immediately available.

The center received donations to help replace the damaged items, according to its administrators.

“We are humbled by the amazing and generous outpouring from the Rutgers community and the community at large,” the center said in a statement released on its Facebook page Monday.

The center’s administrators thanked law enforcement for their work and warned of a rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bigotry.

“This incident did not occur in a vacuum. We condemn those that are stoking lies and hate on our campus and those who are engaging in doublespeak that have led to this violence, other acts of hate and bigotry on our campus and in particular against our students,” the center said in its statement.

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(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.

Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Apr 22, 5:55 AM
Attorneys to present opening statements in historic trial

After a week-long selection process, the jurors in Donald Trump’s New York hush money case will hear opening statements Monday in the first criminal trial of a former United States president.

To prove their case, lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg need to convince 12 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump repeatedly falsified records related to unlawfully influencing the 2016 presidential election.

“This case has nothing to do with your personal politics or your feelings about a particular political issue,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told potential jurors on Thursday. “It’s not a referendum on the Trump Presidency, a popularity contest, or any indication of who you plan to vote for this fall. This case is about whether this man broke the law.”

Trump’s lawyers are expected to focus their efforts on going after the credibility of prosecution witnesses, suggesting the case itself is politically motivated and arguing the former president never intended to commit a crime.

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(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.

Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Apr 22, 5:55 AM
Attorneys to present opening statements in historic trial

After a week-long selection process, the jurors in Donald Trump’s New York hush money case will hear opening statements Monday in the first criminal trial of a former United States president.

To prove their case, lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg need to convince 12 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump repeatedly falsified records related to unlawfully influencing the 2016 presidential election.

“This case has nothing to do with your personal politics or your feelings about a particular political issue,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told potential jurors on Thursday. “It’s not a referendum on the Trump Presidency, a popularity contest, or any indication of who you plan to vote for this fall. This case is about whether this man broke the law.”

Trump’s lawyers are expected to focus their efforts on going after the credibility of prosecution witnesses, suggesting the case itself is politically motivated and arguing the former president never intended to commit a crime.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — After a week-long selection process, the jurors in Donald Trump’s New York hush money case will hear opening statements Monday in the first criminal trial of a former United States president.

To prove their case, lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg need to convince 12 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump repeatedly falsified records related to unlawfully influencing the 2016 presidential election.

“This case has nothing to do with your personal politics or your feelings about a particular political issue,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told potential jurors on Thursday. “It’s not a referendum on the Trump Presidency, a popularity contest, or any indication of who you plan to vote for this fall. This case is about whether this man broke the law.”

Trump’s lawyers are expected to focus their efforts on going after the credibility of prosecution witnesses, suggesting the case itself is politically motivated and arguing the former president never intended to commit a crime.

The trial has thrust alleged illegality into the center of the 2024 presidential campaign, as Trump spends his days in a Manhattan courtroom to fight off one of the four criminal cases against him. The opening statements come the same week as Trump’s lawyers head to the Supreme Court to try to advance Trump’s claim of presidential immunity in his federal election interference case.

“This is a giant witch hunt to try and hurt a campaign that’s beating the worst president in history,” Trump said on Friday.

Eighteen jurors have been sworn in to hear the case, and prosecutors plan to present at least 15 days of testimony to prove their case.

What is the prosecution’s theory of the case?

The indictment against the former president focuses on 34 business records — 12 ledger entries, 11 checks, and 11 invoices — that Trump allegedly falsified in order to disguise payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen. According to prosecutors, Trump had labeled the payments as legal expenses, but the payments were actually used in part to repay Cohen for a $130,000 payment to buy the silence of adult film actress Stormy Daniels regarding a long-denied affair with Trump.

Prosecutors allege that the payment was just one example of a broader scheme by Trump to hide information from voters ahead of the 2016 election.

According to prosecutors, the scheme began in August 2015, when Trump and Cohen met with the publisher of the National Enquirer, who agreed to act as the “eyes and ears” of the campaign to identify and kill negative stories.

Months later, the company behind the National Enquirer made a $30,000 payment to a doorman who was shopping around a false story that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock, according to prosecutors. In June 2016 — one month before Trump became the Republican Party nominee — American Media Inc. made a $150,000 payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleged to have had a lengthy affair with Trump, which he denies.

“That is a scheme to buy and suppress negative information to help Mr. Trump’s chances of winning the election,” Bragg said about the case at a press conference announcing the indictment in 2023.

Prosecutors say the payment to Daniels came as the Trump campaign was struggling with the aftermath of the release of the Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump can be heard bragging about grabbing women.

“Indeed, the evidence will demonstrate that the release of the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape caused a panic within the campaign about [the] defendant’s electoral prospects and ultimately served as the catalyst for consummating the Stormy Daniels payoff,” prosecutors wrote in a filing last month.

Prosecutors also plan to introduce evidence to demonstrate Trump’s “consciousness of guilt,” including an effort to allegedly intimidate witnesses like Cohen from cooperating with investigators.

“The defendant was attempting to intimidate the likely witnesses against him, but the jury doesn’t even have to work that hard because the defendant himself has publicly embraced the overt strategy of going after his perceived enemies,” Steinglass said Monday.

What is Trump’s defense?

Trump’s lawyers have suggested that one of their main defenses will be highlighting that the former president never intended to commit a crime, including the fact that he relied on lawyers to orchestrate the alleged payments.

“I was paying a lawyer and I marked it down as a legal expense, some accountant,” Trump said last week. “Legal expense — that’s what you’re supposed to call it.”

Trump’s lawyers are also expected to hammer the credibility of the state’s witnesses, including Cohen, who previously pleaded guilty to federal charges associated with the alleged scheme, as well as other charges including lying to Congress in what Cohen says was an effort to protect Trump.

“We are going to be very up-front about the fact that several of the witnesses in this case have what you might consider to be some baggage,” Steinglass told potential jurors last week.

Some of the witnesses, according to prosecutors, have made inconsistent statements about the alleged conduct, have received immunity for their testimony, or have made media appearances to discuss their conduct.

Trump has also suggested on three separate occasions that he intends to testify during the trial in his own defense.

If Trump takes the stand, prosecutors hope to question the former president about a dozen past court findings in an effort to damage his credibility.

Who are the jurors?

After a lengthy jury selection process last week, Judge Juan Merchan swore in 12 jurors and six alternatives to hear the case.

The jury is composed of seven men and five women, the majority of whom have college degrees. They work a variety of jobs, including investment banking, teaching, physical therapy, and corporate law.

If any of the jurors need to be dismissed during the trial, they would be replaced by one of the six alternate jurors, including a woman who works in creative operations for a clothing company, a contract specialist, an audio professional, and an asset manager.

Who are the first witnesses?

Prosecutors have mentioned a long list of potential witnesses — including Cohen, Daniels, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks, and others — but have not yet disclosed their first witness, who could take the stand as early as Monday.

Last week, prosecutors expressed concerns that Trump might attack the initial witness on social media if he learned who they are. Merchan declined to order prosecutors to disclose their identity, calling their concerns about Trump “understandable.”

Steinglass ultimately offered a compromise, promising to tell the defense team the name of the first witness on Sunday under one condition.

“If that should be tweeted, that will be the last time we extend that courtesy,” Steinglass said.

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(NEW YORK) — Attorneys for Donald Trump are expected back in court on Monday to defend the $175 million bond in the former president’s civil fraud case, days after New York Attorney General Letitia James urged the court to reject the bond and give Trump seven days to find a new one.

Judge Arthur Engoron ordered the hearing earlier this month after James took exception to the bond and asked the company behind the bond — Knight Specialty Insurance Company — to prove they are sufficiently collateralized to pay the bond if Trump’s appeal of the $464 million judgment fails.

The bond hearing presents a legal double-header for the former president, who is required to attend the opening statements in his criminal hush money trial on Monday morning. Down the street from the criminal courthouse, Judge Engoron will hear arguments that could place the former president in financial dire straits if the bond is rejected.

Trump’s bond saga began in February when Engoron ordered the former president and his co-defendants to pay $464 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest for engaging in what he found to be a decade of business fraud. Trump attempted to delay the fine, telling an appellate court that finding a surety willing to handle a half-billion-dollar bond was a “practical impossibility.”

James vowed to begin seizing Trump’s assets, including his namesake buildings, if he did not pay the judgment in time.

“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James said in an interview with ABC News.

At the deadline for Trump to pay the judgment, New York’s Appellate Division First Department granted the former president’s 11th-hour request to reduce the size of his bond, permitting the him to post a bond of $175 million.

Days later, Trump and his co-defendants posted a $175 million bond collateralized using $175,304,075 held in a Charles Schwab brokerage account controlled by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.

Because the company behind the bond was not admitted in New York, James filed a notice that requires Knight Speciality Insurance to demonstrate they are capable of paying the bond if needed.

“KSIC is a respected, well-capitalized, Delaware-domiciled insurer that has long underwritten surety bonds and other types of insurance placed around the country,” attorneys for Knight Speciality Insurance and Trump wrote in a filing last week.

The filing specified that the bond was secured by more than $175 billion held in a brokerage account controlled by Knight, which independently maintained more than $539 million in their own assets. The filing also stated that the company has access to more than $2 billion in assets through their parent company.

“By any standard, KSIC has therefore provided assurance to the Plaintiff judgment creditor that she can collect the designated amount if the award is affirmed on appeal,” the filing said.

In a filing on Friday, the New York Attorney General argued that the bond itself should be rejected because the defendants failed to prove that Knight could handle “this extraordinarily large undertaking” and that the bond was sufficiently collateralized.

According to James’ filing, Knight does not have the exclusive right to control the money in Trump’s brokerage account, which could become problematic if the value of Trump’s assets in the account dips below $175 million. James also raised issues with Knight’s business practices, which she argued should make the company ineligible to do business in New York.

“KSIC is not qualified to act as the surety under this standard because its management has been found by federal authorities to have operated affiliated companies within KSIC’s holding company structure in violation of federal law on multiple occasions within the past several years,” the filing said.

Don Hankey — the chairman of Knight Specialty’s parent company — declined to comment on the attorney general’s recent filing on Friday.

In an interview with ABC News on April 4, he said he had “no concerns at all” about the bond.

“Seldom do our applications or our bonds get turned down. I imagine it is being scrutinized very carefully, and they’re checking to make sure all the i’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed,” Hankey said. “It’s a large amount for anybody.”

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(LOS ANGELES) — A suspected intruder was arrested early Sunday morning after a break-in at the home of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, according to police.

“Around 6:40 AM this morning an individual smashed a window to gain entry into the Getty House while occupied,” the LAPD PIO said in a statement on X.

Bass and her family reside at the Getty House in the Hancock Park neighborhood in Los Angeles.

The mayor’s office tells ABC News Bass was one of the occupants who was at home when the intruder broke in, but did not specify if she had an interaction with the suspect.

“There were no injuries to the occupants during this incident,” LAPD wrote, adding, “The suspect was taken into custody without incident.”

Authorities said late Sunday night that the suspect, who was identified as Ephraim Matthew Hunter, 29, was booked on a felony burglary charge. His bail was set at $100,000.

It was not immediately clear if Hunter had a legal representative.

Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Following the break-in, Bass’ Deputy Mayor of Communications Zach Seidl released a statement, saying, “The Mayor is grateful to LAPD for responding and arresting the suspect.”

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(NEW YORK) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams addressed the ongoing protests at Columbia University, condemning examples of antisemitism and hate speech in a statement Sunday.

“I am horrified and disgusted with the antisemitism being spewed at and around the Columbia University campus,” Adams said.

Protests over the Israel-Hamas war continued at the University campus in Upper Manhattan for the fifth day on Sunday, which has led to the arrest of over 100 people, according to police.

“I have instructed the NYPD to investigate any violation of law that is reported,” Adams said. “Rest assured, the NYPD will not hesitate to arrest anyone who is found to be breaking the law.”

Mayor Adams called out specific examples of hate speech, such as, “a young woman holding a sign with an arrow pointing to Jewish students stating ‘Al-Qasam’s Next Targets, or another where a woman is literally yelling ‘We are Hamas,’ or another where groups of students are chanting ‘We don’t want no Zionists here.'”

“I condemn this hate speech in the strongest of terms,” Adams said.

Columbia Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway said in a post on the university website Sunday that the school was boosting “safety measures” on the Morningside campus.

“The gathering of large crowds on campus and around the Morningside perimeter are causing considerable disruption and distress,” Holloway wrote, noting the school would be upping security by 35 additional guards and two additional supervisors per shift; “enhanced perimeter security staffed by additional private security personnel”; and additional coverage at the Kraft Center over Passover.

On Thursday, demonstrators had occupied Columbia’s south lawn for over 30 hours “in violation of the university’s rules” and did not leave despite “numerous warnings,” Mayor Adams said at the time.

NYPD arrested 108 people for trespass without incident, officials said Thursday. Among those, two were also arrested for obstruction of governmental administration, officials said.

The protests, which began on April 17, followed Columbia University president Minouche Shafik’s testimony to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce about antisemitism on college campuses.

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik called for Shafik’s resignation on Sunday, saying Columbia University “failed to enforce their own campus rules and protect Jewish students on campus,” in a post on X, formally known as Twitter.

“While Columbia’s failed leadership spent hundreds of hours preparing for this week’s Congressional hearing, it clearly was an attempt to cover up for their abject failure to enforce their own campus rules and protect Jewish students on campus,” Stefanik wrote.

“President Shafik must immediately resign. And the Columbia Board must appoint a president who will protect Jewish students and enforce school policies,” Stefanik wrote.

In his statement Sunday, Adams acknowledged how the ongoing conflict in the Middle East “has left many of us grieving and angry.”

“New Yorkers have every right to express their sorrow, but that heartbreak does not give anyone the right to harass or threaten others or to physically harm someone they disagree with,” Adams said.

Mayor Adams recognized the heightened tensions in New York, as the Jewish community celebrates the beginning of Passover on Monday.

“As Mayor of the city with the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel, the pain these protests are causing Jews across the globe is not lost on me, especially as we start Passover tomorrow evening,” Adams said, noting, “I also see and hear the pain of those protesting in support of innocent lives being lost in Gaza.”

Concluding his statement, Adams said, “In this moment of heightened tension around the world, we stand united against hate.”

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(CHICAGO) — A Chicago police officer heading home from his shift early Sunday was shot and killed, the “victim of the type of crime he was working against,” the Chicago police superintendent said.

The slain 30-year-old officer was shot multiple times and had his car taken, Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling said during a news conference Sunday morning.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson identified the slain officer as Luis M. Huesca, saying his death was the result of “an act of unconscionable gun violence in our city.”

“I met with Officer Huesca’s mother and uncle this morning and assured them that they have my full support as they deal with this unspeakable loss. Our city is grieving, and our condolences go out to their entire family as well as Luis’ fellow officers and community,” Johnson said in a post Sunday on X.

The mayor said Huesca worked in the police department’s 5th District as a member of the Priority Response Team.

Huesca was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

Snelling said detectives are working to determine if the officer was gunned down during a carjacking.

“We can’t confirm that right now, but detectives are working through it. What we do know is that the officer’s vehicle was taken,” Snelling said. “But to get to the total motive of what happened, we need more information and the detective division is working on that.”

No arrests were announced.

The shooting unfolded around 2:53 a.m. on West 56th Street near South Kedzie Avenue in the Gage Park neighborhood, according to a police statement. Officers responding to a gunshot detection alert found the mortally wounded officer lying outside on the ground suffering from several gunshot wounds, according to the statement.

Snell said the officer, a six-year veteran of the CPD, was in his uniform, but with a jacket over it at the time he was shot.

“Our officer was headed home after his tour of duty,” Snelling said. “While returning home, the officer was shot multiple times.”

CPD said the shooting happened in the 8th Police District on the Southwest Side of the city.

“He was working hard out there to keep communities and to keep people safe, and today that officer was a victim of the type of crime that he was working against to keep people safe in this city,” Snelling said. “There’s a lot of violent crime out here and there are people who are brazen and cowardly in the way they go about their days and carry out these violent acts against the decent hardworking people of this city, who are just trying to live their lives the right way. It has to stop.”

Snelling said the officer is survived by his mother and an uncle.

“He was just a great officer, a great human being and his family is dealing with a lot right now. My condolences go out to the family. We really need to keep the family, his mother in our prayers,” Snelling said. “These are senseless, senseless crimes that are taking the lives of our community members. Today, one of our officers.”

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(LOS ANGELES) — A tram crash at Universal Studios Hollywood injured 15 people on Saturday night, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

The crash at the theme park “resulted in multiple minor injuries,” a spokesperson for the Studio City park said in a statement.

“We are working to support our guests and understand the circumstances that led to the accident,” the spokesperson said.

Fifteen people were transported to local hospitals with minor injures, fire officials said. First responders were dispatched to the park at about 9 p.m., officials said.

The California Highway Patrol will lead an investigation into the crash.

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