Opening statements expected Monday at Trump’s New York criminal trial
Opening arguments are set to start Monday at the New York trial of Donald Trump, the first criminal case ever brought against a former U.S. president. Prosecutors are expected to allege that Trump schemed in 2016, just before winning election, to hide hush money payments to two women to cover up their claims of alleged extramarital affairs with him. Trump’s lawyers are likely to deny the affairs occurred, and to tell the jury that payments made to Michael Cohen were reimbursements for legal work, not hush money Cohen claims he paid porn actress Stormy Daniels. Cohen, a convicted perjurer, was Trump’s one-time political fixer and personal lawyer, and is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution. “I was paying a lawyer and marked it down as a legal expense.” Trump told reporters last week. “That’s exactly what it was.” Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. If convicted, he could be imprisoned for up to four years. Trump was president from 2017 to 2021 and is …