Trump Trial Attorneys Argue Whether Hush Payments Were Conspiracy
NEW YORK — A New York prosecutor started his argument Monday to try to convict former President Donald Trump by telling the jury, “This case is about criminal conspiracy.”
Over the next 45 minutes, District Attorney Matthew Colangelo told the jury that the first former president to face criminal charges was willing to do nearly anything to protect his 2016 election campaign, including making hush money payments to cover up sexual affairs.
Afterward, he and his co-conspirators concealed the payments through fraudulent business records, the prosecutor said.
“They agreed to cook the books,” Colangelo said.
The payments allegedly included $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels and $150,000 to former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal.
Daniels said she had a one-night fling with Trump. McDougal said she had a 10-month affair.
Much of the opening argument focused on former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who is expected to be the prosecution’s key witness.
He submitted 11 phony invoices for the payments to buy the women’s silence, Colangelo said. Trump signed them and lied about them afterward, he said.
Cohen can back up his testimony about the fake invoices and Trump’s knowledge of them with emails, text messages, phone logs and other documentation, Colangelo said.
Before the opening arguments, Judge Juan Merchan told the jury neither any sexual encounters or the hush money could be the basis of their verdict. Instead, they must decide Trump’s guilt or innocence by deciding whether he conspired to hide his conduct with falsified business records.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche described the former president as an innocent victim of personal enemies who lied about him.
“President Trump did not commit any crimes,” Blanche said. “The Manhattan DA’s office should never have brought this case.”
He described the hush money as “non-disclosure agreements.”
“Entering into a non-disclosure agreement is perfectly legal,” Blanche said.
If there was any deceit over the payments, it was the fault of Cohen, not Trump, the defense attorney said.
Cohen wanted a job in the White House but didn’t get one, Blanche said.
In addition, Cohen is a “convicted liar” who wants revenge by getting Trump sent to prison, he said.
In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, tax fraud and bank fraud. He said he violated campaign-finance laws at Trump’s direction “for the principal purpose of influencing” the 2016 presidential campaign.
In November 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to U.S. congressional committees about efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, Russia. He was sentenced to three years in prison and disbarred as an attorney.
“He has a goal of getting President Trump,” Blanche said.
The attorney tried to undercut the expected testimony by Daniels by saying, “She saw her chance to make a lot of money.”
He said that “whatever she says does not matter.”
Trump admits signing checks presented to him by Cohen but said he believed they were payment for legal services, not hush money.
“You call a payment to a lawyer a legal expense,” Trump told the media as he left the courthouse for the day.
He added, “This is what I got indicted over.”
He described the case against him as a political vendetta, saying, “It’s all coming out of the White House by the way.”
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