Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York, where he faces criminal charges similar to the 2016 secret payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. This is the first time in history that a former U. S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
Last April, Trump pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment accusing him of falsifying business records in connection with a secret cash payment his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to Daniels to boost his electoral chances in the 2016 presidential election.
READ MORE: Here’s what you want to know about this landmark case.
Former President Donald Trump reiterated his goal of testifying in his felon trial when he left the courtroom later that day.
“We just had another hearing and the trial starts on Monday, much sooner than a lot of people think,” Trump said. “The trial should move forward as temporarily as possible. “
The former president, once again, called the trial a witch hunt orchestrated through his political rivals.
-Michael Pappano
Judge Juan Merchan refused to order prosecutors to produce their first witness after defense attorneys reiterated their request yesterday.
“I still think that, given the circumstances, other people’s reaction is understandable and I’m not going to force them to do anything,” Merchan said, mentioning Tuesday’s hearing to hold Trump in contempt of court for violating the judge’s limited right. Silence Order.
Yesterday, prosecutors expressed fear that Trump would attack the first witnesses if he discovers their names. Today, U. S. Attorney Joshua Steinglass proposed a compromise: They would release the names of the first witnesses on Sunday, under a strict condition.
“If this has to be tweeted, this will be the time when we will be polite,” Steinglass said.
Steinglass said that while the first witness’s testimony will likely begin Monday, the witness must complete his or her main cross-examination by the end of the day.
The hearing was then adjourned for the day.
A judgment by the Court of Appeal rejected the defence’s request for an urgent stay of the trial.
Earlier Friday, Trump filed an emergency appeal as he sought to replace the trial venue based on some of the answers given through potential jurors in the jury variety process.
The appeals court rules on Trump’s rejected request to delay the start of the trial.
Trump’s past of moving the trial out of Manhattan has failed.
“We will have opening statements on Monday morning,” Judge Juan Mercan said.
He did this after urging the defense to avoid submitting letters “that point to individual decisions one by one. “
“There comes a time when you conform to my decisions,” he told Trump and his defense team.
“I have taken into account their motions. I have taken their arguments into account,” Merchan said. “There’s nothing more to clarify. There is nothing more to discuss. We will have opening statements on Monday. We start on Mondays. “
After a replacement said he owned a minority stake in a company that produces Michael Cohen’s “Mea Culpa” podcast, Trump leaned forward and turned to the guy at the mention of his former lawyer’s name.
The guy said he volunteered for an effort to get the Democratic vote from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.
Several of the potential replacements said they read Trump’s “Art of the Deal,” adding that he’s a control rep who likes to be outdoors when he’s not working.
A retired instructor made the required commitments, stating: “I will make my decision only on the basis of the evidence presented in the courtroom. There’s no explanation as to why I can’t be a fair and independent juror. “
“We all have to respect the law,” he said.
A woman with an MBA in Information Systems who likes to “cook, cook, watch hockey” asked about the court’s schedule for Passover. She told the court she planned to do it early next Monday and Tuesday, and said that would give her enough time to get there. to his seder in New Jersey.
A contract specialist at a fintech company said she likes to take her two sons to Knicks games and Rubik’s Cube speed competitions.
Another potential replacement skipped the questionnaire and said the judge might not be impartial.
“After thinking about it after listening to the questions, I don’t think I can be impartial,” the woman said before Judge Merchan excused her without objection.