While the historic trial of the former American president began this Monday, April 22 in New York, the deputy prosecutor accused Donald Trump of having fomented a “criminal conspiracy” by concealing payments to buy the silence of a former star of X-rated films just before the 2016 election.
Donald Trump’s trial gets to the heart of the matter. At the opening this Monday, April 22, deputy prosecutor Matthew Colangelo affirmed that the former American president had fomented a “criminal conspiracy” and tried to “cover it up”, in the case of hidden payments to buy the silence of a former porn star just before the 2016 election.
“This case is one of criminal conspiracy and cover-up,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told jurors during the prosecution’s first speech, in the presence of Donald Trump.
The jury selected
After a first week devoted to jury selection, the stage is set: 12 titular jurors, seven men and five women, and six alternates, are ready to judge the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
“It’s a very, very, sad day for America,” said Donald Trump before entering the courtroom, denouncing as usual “a witch hunt” and a political operation carried out since the White House.
The case threatens Donald Trump with conviction and a possible prison sentence a few months before the presidential election on November 5, where he dreams of a revenge against Joe Biden.
For Bennett Gershman, a former New York prosecutor and law professor at Pace University in New York, “this is going to be probably the most sensational trial in American history.” “The stakes are almost endless.”
On his Truth Social platform, the Republican billionaire once again fulminated during the night from Sunday to Monday against Juan Merchan, the judge who presides over the debates, whom he described as “corrupt”. “It’s a sham” trial, Donald Trump also wrote in capital letters.
On Monday, Manhattan prosecutors must present the charges to the jury and try to demonstrate that the case goes well beyond the 34 falsifications of accounting documents from the Trump Organization accused of the 77-year-old Republican billionaire.