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 discovered their names. Today, U. S. Attorney Joshua Steinglass proposed a compromise: They would release the names of the first witnesses on Sunday, under one 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 ruling by the Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s request for an urgent suspension 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 pause, Judge Merchan ruled that prosecutors could present evidence similar to Trump’s attacks on his former lawyer Michael Cohen if the defense opted first for Cohen’s credibility as a witness.
Merchan said, “I would imagine” the defense will seek to “discredit” Cohen, and when they do, he said, “the door will be open” for prosecutors to come forward with Trump’s tweets.
Trump leaned forward with his hands clasped under his chin as his lawyer, Todd Blanche, discussed other evidentiary barriers that would be put in place.