The first criminal trump trial of a former president in U.S. history is officially underway in a crowded Manhattan courtroom, where prosecutors and defense attorneys are beginning the arduous task of seating a 12-person jury in the case of The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump.
Flanked by his attorneys in room 1530 of the Manhattan Criminal Court, Trump is seated at a table where countless defendants before him have appeared. Monday’s proceedings began with lawyers for both sides arguing over several aspects of the case, including what evidence should be admissible and what questions should be asked of potential jurors.
The first 96 out of several hundred New York residents who make up the jury pool were sworn in just after 2 p.m., formally marking the beginning of the historic trial. More than half were quickly dismissed after they said they could not be fair and impartial. A handful of others were dismissed after saying they could not serve for reasons that were not disclosed. Others were excused based on their answers to a questionnaire.
Trump is charged with 34 state counts of falsifying business records related to a “hush money” payment his attorney made to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, claiming the prosecution is part of a plot by Democrats aimed at preventing him from retaking the White House. The case is the first of the four criminal prosecutions against Trump to make it to trial.
The presumptive Republican nominee for president addressed reporters outside the courtroom before making his way inside.
“This is really an attack on a political opponent. That’s all it is,” Trump said. “So I’m very honored to be here.”
The first day of the Trump trial
Former President Donald Trump attends the first day of his “hush money” trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 15, 2024. JEFFERSON SIEGEL/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Judge Juan Merchan took his seat on the bench just before 10 a.m. and called the proceedings to order. He quickly denied a motion from Trump’s legal team asking him to recuse himself from the case. Trump’s attorneys had argued that Merchan should step aside because of his daughter’s employment at a consulting firm that does work for Democratic candidates and progressive groups. Merchan said their argument relied upon “a series of inferences, innuendos, and unsupported allegations.”
Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office argued over a handful of outstanding issues related to evidence, rules for the trial, and the questions that potential jurors will answer.
Joshua Steinglass, a member of Bragg’s team, said the prosecution would offer evidence that Trump conspired with his former attorney Michael Cohen, and an executive at the parent company of the National Enquirer to suppress damaging stories about Trump, and publish negative stories about his rivals, before the 2016 election.
Steinglass said David Pecker, then the CEO of American Media, Inc., would testify that Pecker “he ran these stories to bolster Mr. Trump’s campaign” and that they were “shown to Mr Trump before they were published, so he could approve, suggest or reject changes.” Steinglass said prosecutors would introduce evidence pointing to “a deal struck between the defendant and AMI to put their thumbs on the scale.”
Todd Blanche, an attorney for Trump, said the evidence has “nothing to do with the charged crime.” Merchan soon said he would allow prosecutors to use the evidence at trial.
Merchan also said he would allow evidence related to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who also alleged an affair with Trump and sold the rights to her story to the National Enquirer.
Other rulings went in the defense’s favor. Merchan reiterated a previous decision that the infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump can be heard talking about grabbing women, would not be played for the jury. He also disallowed a tape of Trump discussing the tape during an unrelated deposition.
Later, prosecutors indicated they would ask the judge why Trump shouldn’t be held in contempt for apparent violations of a gag order that Merchan imposed weeks ago. The order limits what Trump can say publicly about many of those involved in the case, including potential witnesses. Trump has attacked two well-known key witnesses in the case, Cohen and Daniels, in social media posts since Merchan issued his order. Prosecutors asked the judge to hand down a fine of $1,000 each for three Trump posts and order that they be taken down. Merchan said he would hear arguments over the issue next week.
At several points during the arguments, Trump appeared to fall asleep at the defense table, his chin appearing to drop to his chest briefly. In one instance, He was stirred awake by his attorney, Blanche, who touched his shoulder and spoke to him.
The jury selection process
A court sketch shows former President Donald Trump at the defense table on the first day of his criminal trial in New York on Monday, April 15, 2024.JANE ROSENBERG
Once the final pretrial questions were resolved, 96 of the more than 500 members of the jury pool were escorted into the room. Roughly 200 were present at the courthouse.
Merchan began by laying out the allegations against Trump, namely that he “falsified business records to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election.” He continued by mentioning Cohen and Daniels.
“Specifically, it is alleged that Donald Trump made or caused false business records to hide the true nature of payments made to Michael Cohen, by characterizing them as payment for legal services rendered pursuant to a retainer agreement,” Merchan said. “The [prosecutors] allege that in fact, the payments were intended to reimburse Michael Cohen for money he paid to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, in the weeks before the presidential election to prevent her from publicly revealing details about a past sexual encounter with Donald Trump.”
The roughly three dozen potential jurors who were not dismissed are being asked to respond to 42 additional questions ranging from the mundane — what jobs they hold — to the more pointed, like whether they follow Trump on social media. Some will then be called in for individual questioning.
Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors will seek to whittle the group of potential jurors down to just 12, plus half a dozen alternates, in a process that is expected to take at least a week, and likely longer. Once jury selection is over, the two sides will then begin presenting their cases, with the prosecution going first.
As a criminal defendant, Trump is required to attend proceedings each day of the trial unless he applies for and is granted a waiver. Court personnel and lawyers from both sides have said they expect the trial to last between six and eight weeks.
Merchan reminded Trump that he must be in court every day of the trial, and issued a standard warning given to all criminal defendants that he will be subject to arrest if he fails to show up.
The US says it is on high alert for a significant Iranian retaliatory attack on Israel as fears grow of a wider regional war.
There remains a “real,” “credible,” and “viable” threat of Iran launching strikes, the White House said Friday, following Israel’s attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria last week that killed three Iranian generals.
President Joe Biden, who warned this week that Iran was threatening a “significant attack” on Israel, has been receiving constant updates on the situation from his national security team.
The US and several other countries, including Britain and France, issued new travel guidelines for government employees in Israel as the Iranian threat loomed.
“We’re watching this very, very closely,” said John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, who declined to provide information about the expected timing of the threat.
The Defense Department is moving additional assets to the Middle East region “to bolster regional deterrence efforts and increase force protection for US forces,” a US defense official told CNN, as Israel and the US brace for a potential Iranian attack.
The Pentagon has been working specifically to bolster air defenses for the US troops stationed in Iraq and Syria, who came under attack by Iran-backed proxy forces over 100 times between October and February. In January, three US servicemembers were killed when a drone got through US air defenses at the Tower 22 base in Jordan.
The US is not anticipating that Iran or its proxies will attack US forces as part of its retaliation but is moving the assets just in case.
“It would be imprudent if we didn’t take a look at our posture in the region to make sure that we’re properly prepared,” Kirby said.
CNN reported last week that the US was on high alert and actively preparing for an attack by Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region. Officials said such an attack could come within the week.
Sources say Iran wary of dramatic escalation
CNN reported earlier this week that an Iranian attack on Israel would likely be carried out by Iranian proxy forces in the region rather than by Iran directly, according to two people familiar with US intelligence on the matter.
Tehran is wary of a dramatic escalation in the fighting, the sources said, and does not want to give the US or its allies an excuse to attack Iran directly.
The sources said Iran and its proxy militia groups do not appear poised to attack US troops or other assets in the region, but they noted that Iran does not have perfect command and control over all its proxy forces, so the possibility of an attack on US assets cannot be completely ruled out.
The sources told CNN that US intelligence assesses that Iran has urged several of its proxy militia groups to simultaneously launch a large-scale attack against Israel, using drones and missiles, and that they could attack as soon as this week.
“The threat is very clear and credible,” said one of the sources. “They have put the pieces in place to conduct the attack now. Just waiting for the right time.”
Biden spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about the threat of an Iranian attack during a telephone call last week.
A direct strike on Israel by Iran is one of the worst-case scenarios the Biden administration is bracing for, as it would guarantee rapid escalation of an already tumultuous situation in the Middle East. Such a strike could lead to the Israel-Hamas war broadening into a wider, regional conflict – something Biden has long sought to avoid.
Kirby said Friday that US officials were in “constant communication” with their Israeli counterparts about the matter and that steps were underway to ensure Israel can defend itself.
“We are certainly mindful of a very public and what we consider to be a very credible threat made by Iran in terms of potential attacks on Israel,” Kirby said Friday.
He pointed to a visit to Israel on Friday by US Central Command chief Gen. Erik Kurilla to have “those conversations directly with his IDF counterparts.”
Biden is receiving briefings multiple times a day on the situation, Kirby said.
“He has made it clear to the entire national security team that that we will take seriously our commitments to the defense, and self-defense of Israel,” Kirby said.
Diplomatic pressure
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the foreign ministers of Turkey, China, and Saudi Arabia to urge them to press Iran not to escalate the conflict in the Middle East after threats made by Iran against Israel, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Thursday.
Miller said the US has also “engaged with European allies and partners over the past few days” to deliver a similar message on Iran. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron have both spoken to the Iranian foreign minister in recent days.
Blinken “has been making clear to every country that has any semblance of a relationship with Iran that it is in their interest to use that relationship to send a message to Iran that they should not escalate this conflict. But I will let those countries speak for themselves about what action they may or may not take,” Miller said.
The US State Department has restricted the travel of US government personnel in Israel in the wake of public threats against Israel by Iran.
“Out of an abundance of caution, U.S. government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv (including Herzliya, Netanya, and Even Yehuda), Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva areas until further notice,” a security alert posted by the US Embassy Thursday said, “U.S. government personnel are authorized to transit between these three areas for personal travel.”
“The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events,” the alert noted.
France has advised its citizens to “absolutely refrain” from traveling to Iran, Lebanon, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories due to the risk of “military escalation,” the French Foreign Ministry said Friday.
The ministry added that families of diplomatic staff in the Iranian capital Tehran will be returned to France and civil servants will be banned from work missions to those countries and territories.
The French foreign minister issued the new recommendation following a crisis meeting on the region, the ministry said in a post on X.
Menendez appears to be the first sitting senator in U.S. history to have been indicted on two unrelated criminal allegations.
senator robert menendez
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., right, and his wife Nadine Arslanian, pose for a photo on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife were indicted Friday on charges that they took bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car for a range of corrupt acts, including having the Democrat use his influence over foreign affairs to benefit the authoritarian government of Egypt.
The sweeping indictment alleges that Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, provided sensitive and non-public U.S. government information to Egyptian government officials and took other steps to secretly help Egypt, including ghost-writing a letter on behalf of Egypt pushing other senators to lift a hold on $300 million in aid to the country. Authorities also allege the senator sought to derail a criminal investigation into an associate by pushing for a U.S. attorney nominee he believed could be influenced.
A search of the couple’s home turned up $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in hidden cash, said prosecutors, who announced the charges against the 69-year-old Democrat nearly six years after an earlier criminal case against him ended with a deadlocked jury.
The latest indictment is unrelated to the earlier charges that alleged Menendez accepted lavish gifts to pressure government officials on behalf of a Florida doctor.
Menendez in an emailed statement accused prosecutors of misrepresenting “the normal work of a Congressional office” and writing “these charges as they wanted.”
“For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave,” Menendez said. “Since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago, there has been an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists.”
Menendez says he has been falsely accused of accepting bribes but “will not be distracted” from work in the Senate.
David Schertler, a lawyer for Menendez’s wife, Nadine, said she “denies any criminal conduct and will vigorously contest these charges in court.”
The Senate Historical Office says Menendez appears to be the first sitting senator in U.S. history to have been indicted on two unrelated criminal allegations. Menendez faces reelection next year in a bid to extend his three-decade career in Washington as Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate.
In April 2020, shortly after meeting with an Egyptian official, authorities allege, Menendez also lobbied then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to increase American engagement in stalled negotiations involving Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to build a dam over the Nile River, a key foreign policy issue for Egypt.
Prosecutors allege Menendez and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from three business associates, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes. He also used his influence to pressure the president to nominate a U.S. attorney for New Jersey who would protect Daibes, a longtime friend and prominent New Jersey developer who faced criminal prosecution, they said.
After Menendez called a government official about Daibes’ case, according to the indictment, his wife was given a Mercedes-Benz convertible by Uribe and Hana, both friends of the senator and his wife. The indictment says that after the purchase was complete, Nadine Menendez texted her husband to say: “Congratulations mon amour de la vie, we are the proud owners of a 2019 Mercedes,” with a heart emoji.
Requests for comment with lawyers for Daibes, Hana and Uribe were not immediately returned.
Now that he is indicted, Menendez will have to step down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rules for the Senate Democratic caucus say that any member who is charged with a felony must step aside from a leadership position.
Menendez had to step down from his position as the top Democrat on the panel when he was indicted in 2015. He resumed the post in 2018 when he was cleared of the charges.
The first time Menendez was indicted, he had been accused of using his political influence to help a Florida eye doctor who had lavished him with gifts and campaign contributions.
The new charges follow a yearslong investigation that examined, among other things, the dealings of a New Jersey businessman — a friend of Menendez’s wife — who secured sole authorization from the Egyptian government to certify that meat imported into that country meets Islamic dietary requirements. Investigators also asked questions about the Menendez family’s interactions with a New Jersey developer.
Menendez’s political career had looked as though it might be over in 2015, when a federal grand jury in New Jersey indicted him on multiple charges over favors he did for a friend, Dr. Salomon Melgen.
Menendez was accused of pressuring government officials to resolve a Medicare billing dispute in Melgen’s favor, securing visas for the doctor’s girlfriends and helping protect a contract the doctor had to provide port-screening equipment to the Dominican Republic.
Menendez has always maintained his innocence. His lawyers said campaign contributions and gifts from Melgen — which included trips on his private jet to a resort in the Dominican Republic and a vacation in Paris — were tokens of their longtime friendship, not bribes.
Prosecutors dropped the case after a jury deadlocked in November 2017 on charges including bribery, fraud and conspiracy, and a judge dismissed some counts.
The Senate Ethics Committee later rebuked Menendez, finding that he had improperly accepted gifts, failed to disclose them and then used his influence to advance Melgen’s personal interests.
But months later, New Jersey voters returned Menendez to the Senate. He defeated a well-financed challenger in a midterm election that broke a Republican lock on power in Washington.
Melgen was convicted of health care fraud in 2017, but President Donald Trump commuted his prison sentence.
The son of Cuban immigrants, Menendez has held public office continuously since 1986, when he was elected mayor of Union City, New Jersey. He was a state legislator and spent 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2006, Gov. Jon Corzine appointed Menendez to the Senate seat he vacated when he became governor.
Menendez first publicly disclosed that he was the subject of a new federal investigation last October. Prosecutors declined at the time to comment, but some details of their investigation emerged in news reports and court records.
In 2019, federal agents seized electronic devices and records from the offices of IS EG Halal, a New Jersey company that had been named by the Egyptian government as the sole company to certify that imported meat met religious requirements.
The designation surprised U.S. agriculture officials. Previously, several other companies had been doing that certification, but they were dismissed by Egyptian agriculture officials in favor of IS EG Halal, which had no previous experience in the field.
The switch happened the same year that Menendez became engaged to his wife, an acquaintance of the new halal certification company’s owner, Hana, of Edgewater, New Jersey.
Records show Arslanian, 56, was battling foreclosure on her Bergen County property in 2018. When she and Menendez got engaged it began a period of financial turnaround for Nadine Menendez, a former marketer for a medical company.
Within weeks of their engagement, she incorporated a business, Strategic International Business Consultants LLC, according to state records. Her foreclosure case was dismissed soon after. The following year, her assets included gold bars valued between $100,000 to $250,000, according to a Senate disclosure form amended by Menendez in March of 2022.
Between April and June of 2022, the couple cashed out at least part of their precious metal holdings, forms show, selling between $200,000 and $400,000 worth of gold bars, while keeping at least $250,000 worth of them.
After news reports last May that federal prosecutors were examining whether Menendez or his wife had received unreported gifts from the business, Hana’s spokesperson denied that any U.S. official had assisted the company.
U.S. investigators also issued at least one subpoena last spring seeking correspondence from Menendez, his wife, or an Edgewater developer, Daibes, whose company owns the building where IS EG Halal has offices. The subpoena, which was sent to state Sen. Nicholas Sacco, referenced a state bill that would have limited development in certain areas along the Hudson River, including where Daibes owns property.
Iman Shumpert Teyana Taylor Cheating in a relationship Kelly Price
By Networknews
Gangland violence grips Swedish capital as rapper, 18, is executed on a sports field, a second man is shot dead and bomb blast kills innocent woman, 25, in her home within 12 hours
Wild West Stockholm: Gangland violence grips Swedish capital as rapper, 18, is executed on a sports field, a second man is shot dead and bomb blast kills innocent woman, 25, in her home within 12 hour
By Networknews
Union Berlin: From second tier to Real Madrid away with ‘terror football from Kopenick’
Union Berlin: From second tier to Real Madrid away with 'terror football from Kopenick'
By Networknews
who has for national cheeseburger deals
By Networknews
Pokemon GO Genesect (Burn) Raid Guide | Counters, Weaknesses, Shiny Genesect (Burn) & More
Pokemon GO is bringing the dual Bug and Steel-type Mythical Pokemon Genesect (Burn) as the upcoming 5-star raid boss. The developers at Niantic are constantly rotating raid bosses, ensuring multiple
