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Day 1 of Trump New York hush money trial
By Kara Scannell, Jeremy Herb, Maureen Chowdhury, Kaanita Iyer, Aditi Sangal and Elise Hammond, CNN
Updated 9:30 a.m. ET, April 22, 2024
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Inside the first day of Trump's trial in Manhattan criminal court
From CNN's Jeremy Herb
Donald Trump has been inside a half-dozen courthouses over the past year, but he had a new experience walking into a downtown Manhattan courtroom Monday morning: a half-empty room.
The former president slowly walked through the cavernous and dingy courtroom, past six empty rows of benches – set aside for prospective jurors – giving a quick glance to the six reporters sitting in the back row before sauntering to the front of the room and taking his seat at the defense table.
The vacant rows served as a reminder to Trump that he’s in a different setting now that he’s a criminal defendant for the first time. By the afternoon, the courtroom was packed full with 96 jurors – some of whom may be on the jury who will hear the hush money trial against the Republican presumptive presidential nominee.
Trump only spoke three times during Monday’s session, acknowledging to the judge he understood his rights as a criminal defendant. Throughout the day Trump often engaged with his attorneys, whispering to them and sharing notes as they debated motions with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Trump also sat back at times and closed his eyes as Judge Juan Merchan slogged through the jury pool and asked up to 42 questions of each prospective juror.
While Trump didn’t have a platform inside the courtroom, he didn’t take long to make his feelings known when he left for the day, speaking to the camera right outside the courtroom after pulling out his iPhone from his suit pocket and handing it to an aide.
“It looks like the judge does not allow me to escape this scam. It’s a scam,” Trump said, complaining that the judge said he could not attend next week’s Supreme Court arguments on presidential immunity and his son’s graduation, though Merchan did not rule one way or the other on whether Trump would be excused for the graduation.
Here are the key takeaways from the first day of the Trump hush money trial
From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Kara Scannell and Kaanita Iyer
The opening day of the first criminal trial of former President Donald Trump hit home the reality that the presumptive Republican nominee for president will be sitting in a Manhattan courtroom as a defendant four days a week.
Here are the key takeaways from day one of “The People of the State of New York vs Donald Trump.”
The difficulty in picking a jury: Merchan brought in 96 New Yorkers as prospective jurors. More than half were quickly dismissed because they said they did not think they could be fair and impartial. Among the other nine potential jurors who were questioned, none said they had read any books written by either Trump or Michael Cohen. And none had said they’d worked or volunteered for Trump.
Defense wants to slow things down: Sources told CNN that there will likely be many objections and sidebars during the trial because the defense is completely focused on preserving every issue for appeal. These tactics fit the larger Trump legal strategy, which included months of appeals to delay the start of the trial, which was successful on separate grounds. The defense now hopes legal proceedings, which are expected to last six to eight weeks, move at a slow pace with the 2024 election just months away.
Trump accused of violating gag order: Prosecutors asked Judge Juan Merchan to sanction Trump and fine him for violating the gag order prohibiting him from talking about witnesses in the case, the DA’s office or court staff. Merchan scheduled a hearing on the district attorney’s motion for next Tuesday.
“Access Hollywood” tape can’t be played, but actress can testify: Merchan sided with prosecutors in allowing Karen McDougal, an actress and model who alleged she also had an affair with Trump, to testify. Prosecutors can also introduce National Enquirer stories slamming Trump’s opponents as evidence. Trump has denied the affair. A key victory for Trump, meanwhile, was Merchan's ruling that the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape can’t be played in court, saying it was prejudicial. Prosecutors also will not be allowed to bring up other sexual assault allegations against Trump that surfaced after the “Access Hollywood tape” was made public in October 2016.
Trump is also facing charges in 3 other criminal cases
From CNN’s Devan Cole, Amy O'Kruk and Curt Merrill
The first criminal trial against former President Donald Trump is underway in New York.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges related to his alleged role in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that dates to the 2016 presidential election.
It is one of four criminal cases Trump faces, while he also juggles being the Republican presumptive nominee for president. The former president is now facing at least 88 charges over the four criminal indictments in Georgia, New York, Washington, DC, and Florida. Trump has pleaded not guilty to every charge in these cases.
Here's a recap of each case:
- Hush money: Trump was first indicted in March 2023 by the Manhattan district attorney on state charges related to a hush-money payment to an adult-film star in 2016. Prosecutors allege Trump was a part of an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election. Further, they allege he was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including the $130,000 payment.
- Classified documents: Trump was indicted in June 2023 by a federal grand jury in Miami for taking classified national defense documents from the White House after he left office and resisting the government’s attempts to retrieve the materials. The National Archives said in early 2022 that at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from the estate, including some that were classified. The charges were brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
- Federal election interference: Smith separately charged the former president last August with four crimes over his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results. The indictment alleges Trump and a co-conspirator "attempted to exploit the violence and chaos at the Capitol by calling lawmakers to convince them ... to delay the certification" of the election. That case is currently on hold as the Supreme Court weighs Trump’s claims of presidential immunity in the matter.
- Fulton County: State prosecutors in Georgia brought a similar election subversion case against Trump and others. An Atlanta-based grand jury on August 14, 2023, indicted Trump and 18 others on state charges stemming from their alleged efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat. A trial date has not yet been set in that case.
Read more about the four criminal cases Trump faces.
Former federal judge explains why Trump faces felony charges in hush money case
From CNN's Elise Hammond
Former President Donald Trump is facing felony charges in the hush money trial — not misdemeanors — because of the allegation of underlying crimes, a former federal judge explained Monday.
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
“If you file these false business records in furtherance of another crime then it can be a felony and that's what's unusual here,” said Shira Scheindlin, a former US District Court judge.
That means that prosecutors need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified business records with the intent to commit or conceal another crime — but they don’t have to prove that Trump committed that crime.
Prosecutors allege Trump was trying to hide the reimbursement of hush money payments that were made to influence the election outcome. They also allege tax fraud, according to the indictment.
“The jury has to just find that the intent of filing the false business records or making the false business records was to further the underlying crimes and then it becomes a felony,” Scheindlin said.
CNN's Kara Scannell and Lauren del Valle contributed reporting to this post.
By the numbers: Where we stand with jury selection
From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Kara Scannell and Laura Dolan
The jury of 12, along with six alternates, will be chosen from hundreds of New Yorkers after an exhaustive selection process that could stretch beyond the first week of the trial.
Court officials expect about 500 new jurors to appear each day for the selection process. About 100 prospective jurors at a time will be brought into Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom to be vetted.
Here is the breakdown of the first day of jury selection:
- Just after 2:30 p.m., 96 prospective jurors were brought in for questioning and sworn in.
- At least 50 were immediately excused after saying they could not be fair and impartial.
- At least nine more prospective jurors were excused after raising their hand when asked whether they could not serve for any other reason. Those reasons were not disclosed.
Upon questioning:
- Merchan called 18 New Yorkers to the jury box for questioning.
- Ten were questioned by the end of the day. One person was dismissed after she said she had firmly held beliefs about Trump and another person was chosen for the jury box. Merchan excused another juror who said his child was getting married on June 8.
What's next: Around 32 potential jurors remained after Monday's session, according to a pool reporter in the courtroom. They included those who were already questioned and not excused along with those who still face questioning by Merchan on Tuesday. Another panel of potential jurors will be brought in after the first group is completed, the judge said.
The post was updated with the details on how many jurors remained after Monday's session.
Fact Check: Trump falsely claims judge won't let him attend son’s high school graduation next month
From CNN’s Marshall Cohen
After leaving court on Monday, former President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested that Judge Juan Merchan would prevent him from attending his son’s high school graduation in May.
“It looks like the judge will not let me go to the graduation of my son,” Trump said, before lamenting “that I can’t go to my son’s graduation.”
Trump’s son Eric Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric by tweeting, “Judge Merchan is truly heartless in not letting a father attend his son’s graduation.”
Facts First: The judge hasn’t ruled yet on Trump’s request to be excused from court so he can attend Barron Trump’s high school graduation.
Criminal defendants like Donald Trump are typically required to attend their case proceedings in person. Trump’s lawyers asked Merchan on Monday about whether their client could be excused for some events, including the graduation and the upcoming arguments in front of the US Supreme Court in one of Trump’s other criminal cases.
While Merchan didn’t let Trump attend next week's Supreme Court hearing – because Trump has to be in New York for the trial — he said it was too early to rule on the graduation.
Trump appeared to fall asleep during some moments of trial, New York Times' Maggie Haberman says
Former President Donald Trump appeared to fall asleep during the first day of the hush money trial, according to a New York Times reporter who was at the courthouse.
In one moment, his jaw kept falling onto his chest and he didn’t appear to pay attention to a note his lawyer passed him, New York Times senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman said.
“He appeared to be asleep. Repeatedly his head would fall down,” she told CNN.
The moment happened before jury selection began on Monday afternoon. According to the pool reporters inside the courtroom, Trump was leaning back in his chair with his arms folded and his eyes appeared to be closed for several minutes at a time.
Trump's team asked whether he could attend SCOTUS arguments next week. The judge said see you "here next week"
Judge Juan Merchan told Donald Trump's team he will see them next week when asked about the possibility of changing the schedule so the former president could attend Supreme Court arguments April 25.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche noted the former president "very much" wants to attend the arguments over whether the former president may claim immunity in special counsel Jack Smith’s election subversion case.
Prosecutor Josh Steinglass said there's no obligation that the defendant has to be present at the Supreme Court arguments, opposing the request.
"Your client is a criminal defendant," Merchan told Blanche. "He's required to be here" and not at the Supreme Court.
Merchan said he will see him "here next week."
