Trump on trial: Tracking the criminal fraud case

In a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday, prosecutors resumed questioning a banker about shell companies allegedly used to fund payments on behalf of former President Donald Trump and his presidential campaign in 2016. Two women ultimately received the payments in exchange for not going public with their claims of having affairs with Trump. The prosecution in the case is trying to map the money’s alleged path from Trump to the women and prove that crimes were committed along the way. It’s one of four criminal trials Trump is expected to face this year. Here’s the latest as the trial heads into week three.

What is the case about?

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump last year on 34 counts of falsification of records from 2016. The records relate to payments made to two women who claimed to have had extramarital affairs with Trump: Stephanie Clifford, who also goes by Stormy Daniels, and Karen McDougal. Trump denies the affairs. His former lawyer, Michael Cohen, claims that he received two payments—one of $130,000 and another of $170,000—to pay the women to keep quiet during the campaign. Cohen said he was reimbursed for these payments after Trump was in office. Trump reported those payments as legal expenses, which prosecutors say was a lie. Falsification of records is only a misdemeanor, but if coupled with a second crime—intent to defraud voters—it can become a Class E felony, punishable by up to four years in prison.

Is a fair jury in New York possible?

Roughly 500 New Yorkers were called as potential jurors before the court narrowed down the pool to 12 jurors and six alternates. The court excluded dozens of people from the jury pool who raised their hands to express concern about remaining impartial in the case. Those who remained had to answer a 42-item questionnaire and then explain their answers to the attorneys, the judge, and Trump. The jurors will remain anonymous to all but the court, though journalists in the room have been allowed to report some biographical details. One woman asked to be dismissed after she had been sworn in because family and friends identified her as a juror. Judge Juan Merchan then rebuked the press for revealing too much. Each juror swore not to discuss the case even with close family members and to avoid viewing social media posts about it.

The five women and seven men on the jury reported they get their news from a variety of sources. While The New York Times was most prominent, one juror said he only gets his news from Truth Social, a Trump-created social media platform. Others said they consume news from MSNBC, Fox News, and The Washington Post. Five more women and one man are serving as alternates.

What are the two sides’ main arguments?

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said in the opening statement, “This case is about criminal conspiracy and coverup.” His remarks laid out a strategy that hinges on the argument that Trump paid off women to influence the presidential election. Colangelo said he will prove that Trump was involved in a coordinated strategy to kill negative stories about himself ahead of the 2016 election and lied on business documents to fund this effort.

Todd Blanche, arguing for the defense, warned the jury that the prosecution’s witnesses are not credible and some have been convicted of other crimes, including perjury. Blanche said Trump did not engage in any wrongdoing, and he plans to highlight enough reasonable doubt for the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. The defense strategy relies on the argument that private payments do not amount to a scheme and have nothing to do with the campaign.

“President Trump is innocent. Trump did not commit any crimes,” Blanche said. “There is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It’s called democracy,"

Who testified so far?

David Pecker testified for a cumulative 10 hours as the first witness last week. He was previously the CEO of American Media Inc., the publishing company that ran The National Enquirer. He said that the Enquirer frequently used “checkbook journalism,” or paying sources for stories. He worked with Trump and the campaign to “catch and kill” negative stories about Trump and women who alleged misconduct. As CEO, Pecker was the authority for greenlighting any payments greater than $10,000. He also had the final say on running any stories about celebrities. The defense tried to poke holes in Pecker’s credibility by pointing out inconsistencies between his testimony and FBI notes from 2018. On the stand, Pecker said Trump personally thanked him at a Trump Tower meeting in 2017 for “handling the McDougal situation.” But the FBI notes state that Pecker said Trump never said this. The evidence is not fundamental to the case, but the strategy of discrediting the prosecution’s witnesses, especially when they summon longtime former friends of Trump, will continue throughout the trial.

On Friday, Trump’s former assistant Rhona Graff testified briefly about her 34 years working at Trump Tower. She said there were contact entries and files for “Stormy” entered in the Trump Organization’s systems and that she saw Clifford in the building once.

The third witness called on Friday was one of Cohen’s bankers, Gary Farro. Farro showed to prosecutors and the jurors a paper trail of payments between a shell company and a bank account Cohen created to pay Pecker and American Media Inc. for the rights to McDougal’s story. But Farro said the account was never funded. He also testified that Cohen created a new company two weeks after he was supposed to pay AMI, and this shell entity was ultimately used to pay to silence the McDougal and Daniels stories. Farro will return on Tuesday to wrap up his testimony.

Who else will testify?

McDougal and Cliffords are expected to testify against Trump, along with Hope Hicks, a former White House communications director. Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, will also be a prosecution witness. He worked for the Trump Organization from 2006 to 2017, during which time he became known as Trump’s “fixer.” Cohen served time in federal prison after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations.

It is unclear whether Trump will testify in his defense. He is required to attend each day of trial unless the judge excuses him.

“I’m the leading candidate ... and this is what they’re trying to take me off the trail for. Checks being paid to a lawyer,” he said to reporters outside the courtroom last week. “It’s a case as to bookkeeping, which is a very minor thing.”