The first criminal trial of an American president began in midtown Manhattan on Monday.
Former President Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. The underlying events revolve around a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the late stages of the 2016 presidential election campaign.
The payment was made to silence Daniels’ claim that she and Trump had a sexual encounter about a decade earlier. Trump denies having such a meeting and also denies any legal wrongdoing related to the payment.
The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks. The first day brought a massive media presence.
Here are the key findings.
Finding an impartial jury will be difficult
The main item on the day’s agenda was to begin selecting a jury.
In the evening, it became clear how difficult this process will be.
No juror was chosen until the close of business.
Among the first tranche of 96 potential jurors brought to court, about half told Judge Juan Merchan they could not be impartial in a Trump trial.
On one level, this is to be expected – Trump is, after all, the most polarizing president of modern times. And in New York, he was a prominent figure in the city’s tabloids for decades before that.
It is also the nature of jury selection that the prosecution and defense analyze the demographic and behavioral profiles of potential jurors for clues as to which direction they might lean.
So on Monday, the sides were weighing in on people like, in the Associated Press description: “a married resident of West Harlem who works in sales, has some college education, enjoys the outdoors and is on a news diet which includes The New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News and some MSNBC.”
Could this person be pro-Trump, anti-Trump, or impartial?
In the end, there will be 12 jurors and six alternatives chosen.
The full selection process could easily drag into next week.
Don sleepy?
The most dramatic or memorable moments of high-profile trials are often unrelated to lofty issues of jurisprudence.
That became true again on Monday, when the suggestion that Trump had dozed off a few times in court gained widespread attention on social media.
Maggie Haberman of The New York Times — one of the most authoritative reporters on Trump in years — wrote that he “appeared to doze off a few times, his mouth slack and his head drooping on his chest.”
Haberman also reported that Trump’s top lawyer, Todd Blanche, apparently “passed him notes for several minutes before Mr. Trump appeared to wake up and notice them.”
The apparent display of sleepiness was seized upon by Trump’s critics, who mockingly juxtaposed descriptions of him sleeping with his frequent attacks on President Biden as “Sleepy Joe.”
While it is important not to exaggerate the importance of such a moment, it is an embarrassment for Trump.
The former president likes to project an image of vitality despite being 77 years old.
Polls show that more voters are more concerned about Biden’s age and cognitive abilities — the president is 81 — than Trump’s. But some of the former president’s more distorted comments at recent rallies have raised questions of their own.
At a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania, for example, Trump received some negative attention for incoherent and quirky comments about the Battle of Gettysburg.
The tape that won’t go away
It’s been nearly eight years since the so-called Access Hollywood tape hit the political world like a bombshell.
It’s still a topic of debate – including in court on Monday.
The recording came to light in October 2016, but the events it documents date back to 2005.
Trump is heard bragging in extremely explicit terms about women to television host Billy Bush. Most infamously, Trump claimed that “when you’re a star… you can do anything” – including grabbing women by the genitals.
Prosecutors wanted to be able to play the tape for jurors, a proposal Trump’s defense team opposed.
On Monday, Merchan reaffirmed an earlier ruling, holding that it would be harmful to allow the recording itself to be played, but that prosecutors could cite it.
Additionally, prosecutors could also cite internal emails from the Trump campaign after the tape was released.
The general gist of the prosecution’s case is that by paying Daniels to remain silent, Trump sought to influence the 2016 election.
The separate issue of the “Access Hollywood” tape could be used to underscore why the Daniels issue was so politically important.
Trump’s lawyers, however, argued that even the evidence the judge ultimately allowed was “extremely salacious” and “prejudiced.”
Trump could face sanctions for posting ‘despicable bags’
A recurring theme in each of the four criminal trials Trump faces has been his willingness to attack hostile prosecutors, judges and witnesses.
In the New York case, his behavior prompted a gag order from Judge Merchan, which was later extended after Trump attacked the judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, who works for a consulting firm that has been used by Democrats.
Now, prosecutors argue that Trump violated the gag order — and they want him fined $1,000 per social media post for it.
One of the posts under scrutiny calls Daniels and Michael Cohen “two scumbags.”
Cohen is the person who directly made the $130,000 payment to Daniels during his time as Trump’s lawyer and intermediary. Cohen later pleaded guilty to a series of charges, including tax evasion and false testimony to Congress.
Lately, he has become a vocal critic of Trump and is expected to testify against his former boss.
Prosecutors say that, in addition to the fines, Trump should be warned by the judge that further infractions could result in prison time.
Trump’s team argues that he was simply responding to public statements made by Daniels and Cohen.
The matter will be heard before the court on April 23.
White House tries to stay above the fray
Biden and his aides are understandably wary of saying anything that might give Trump ammunition for his claim that the charges against him are politically motivated.
The White House maintained that approach on Monday when press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked at a news conference about the historic nature of the Trump case and whether Biden was following developments in New York.
Jean-Pierre responded that Biden is “very busy today,” holding meetings with the prime ministers of Iraq and the Czech Republic.
“I’m sure he’ll get an update at some point today, but his focus right now is the meetings he holds and what he continues to do every day,” Jean-Pierre added.
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