Democracy Dies in Darkness
On April 22, former president Donald Trump arrived for his criminal trial and falsely claimed that the proceedings have prevented him from campaigning. (Video: The Washington Post)

Court wraps up for the day in Trump hush money trial

1 min

NEW YORK — Court ended for the day early Monday afternoon in Donald Trump’s criminal trial for allegedly falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment during the 2016 presidential election campaign. Prosecutors called their first witness, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who briefly testified about using “checkbook journalism” to pay for stories — a practice that prosecutors say Pecker used to help Trump’s bid for the White House. Earlier, during opening statements, the prosecution promised “damning” testimony from a key witness, while Trump’s defense team told jurors that none of Trump’s conduct was criminal. The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning.

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Twelve jurors and six alternates were chosen after a little more than three days of sometimes emotional jury selection. Trump’s defense lawyers scoured some of the prospective jurors’ social media profiles for evidence of whether they would be biased against the 45th president.
The trial is not being televised. The Washington Post has reporters in the courtroom and media overflow room who are posting live updates. Court ended at 12:30 p.m. Monday so that one alternate juror could deal with a health issue.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to his reimbursement of longtime lawyer Michael Cohen for a hush money payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Trump years before he sought the presidency.
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Twelve jurors and six alternates were chosen after a little more than three days of sometimes emotional jury selection. Trump’s defense lawyers scoured some of the prospective jurors’ social media profiles for evidence of whether they would be biased against the 45th president.
The trial is not being televised. The Washington Post has reporters in the courtroom and media overflow room who are posting live updates. Court ended at 12:30 p.m. Monday so that one alternate juror could deal with a health issue.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to his reimbursement of longtime lawyer Michael Cohen for a hush money payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged that she had a sexual encounter with Trump years before he sought the presidency.
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