Trump’s New York trial started on Monday. He’s accused of falsifying business records to cover up repaying money to his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who channelled $130,000 dollars to Stephanie Clifford, aka porn star Stormy Daniels.
So what? It’s the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president, for an alleged offence that could have changed the course of history:
- The point of the payment was to suppress Daniels’ claim of an affair with Trump.
- Daniels’ story would have leaked ahead of the 2016 election, shortly after the October controversy over Trump’s leaked tape on which he described grabbing women “by the pussy”. Trump went on to win.
Justice Juan Merchan is presiding and has imposed a gag order preventing Trump from criticising witnesses or the jury. There has been much to note and ponder even so:
- Around 100 Trump supporters turned up outside court on Monday to offer their support. Trump claimed “thousands” more have been turned away by police but since Monday numbers have fallen.
- The prosecution is framing the Daniels pay-off as election interference. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo claimed Cohen’s hush-money payment to Daniels was an illegal campaign expenditure, hiding important information from voters. He told jurors “it was election fraud, pure and simple”.
- Legal scholars considered this a stretch until Trump’s lead lawyer Todd Blanche said, in his opening remarks: “I have a spoiler alert – there’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It’s called democracy.”
- Justice Merchan dismissed Blanche’s attempts to lift Trump’s gag order, and warned him he was: “losing all credibility with the court”.
- He wore his trademark $80,000 Brioni suits and what is understood to be Bronx Colors Orange BHC06 fake tan, although neither Brioni nor Bronx Colors would confirm this.
- Trump has sulked throughout the evidence, sometimes falling asleep, farting audibly and asking for the air conditioning to be turned down.
- Trump’s team has spent around $500 a day on lunch at a McDonald’s near the courthouse. A typical order included 27 quarter pounders and 27 portions of fries as well as Filet-O-Fish burgers and chicken nuggets. Staff say they don’t tip.
- Trump’s go-to meal is two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish and a chocolate malted milkshake, according to ex-aides Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie. He’s said to believe choosing McDonald’s will reduce his risk of being poisoned.
- Court officers have set up a metal barricade pen from which Trump is allowed to speak to the press at the end of the day. It’s 15 feet away from a handful of TV cameras and needs a long microphone boom to capture his voice. He’s used it to claim the gag order is “very, very unfair”.
- Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker’s evidence lasted all week with a break for Passover. Pecker ran a “catch-and-kill” scheme to buy and suppress scandalous stories that would reflect badly on Trump. He had similar deals with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods and Mark Wahlberg.
- During the 2016 election, Michael Cohen would phone the National Enquirer using the encrypted Signal app to request negative articles on political opponents. Resulting stories included “Bungling Surgeon Ben Carson Left Sponge in Patient’s Brain”, “Ted Cruz Shamed By Porn Star” and “Ted Cruz Sex Scandal: 5 Secret Mistresses”.
- Trump regularly leaked stories from The Apprentice to gossip magazines including the National Enquirer in “a mutually beneficial relationship”.
- The National Enquirer paid $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to bury her claim of an affair with Trump. The deal guaranteed her two magazine covers and a fitness column, disguising the payment as a contract to avoid violating campaign finance laws.
- Pecker knew the Enquirer’s catch-and-kill deals were unlawful. Asked if he thought Trump wanted them to protect his family, he said “I thought it was for the campaign”.
- When Daniels started shopping her story for $200,000, Pecker refused to buy it, telling Cohen he’d already forked out for a doorman and McDougal. He suggested Cohen pay her since if the story got out “I believe the boss is going to be very angry with you”. Cohen paid out of his own pocket.
- Shortly before his inauguration Trump thanked Pecker for the catch-and-kill stories at a meeting with then FBI director James Comey.
- During a jury break on Thursday, Justice Merchan agreed with the prosecution over whether Pecker’s arrangement with Trump and Michael Cohen counted as a conspiracy.
- Pecker said Trump doesn’t use e-mail and only started using text messages 18 months ago.
