Prosecutor has wrapped up his opening statement

Trump criminal trial wraps for the day after opening statements and first witness

From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell in the courthouse

Updated 5:00 p.m. ET, April 22, 2024
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11:15 a.m. ET, April 22, 2024

Prosecutor has wrapped up his opening statement

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo has wrapped up his opening statement. Trump attorney Todd Blanche is now up.

11:17 a.m. ET, April 22, 2024

Prosecutor to jury: "We are confident you will have no reasonable doubt that Donald Trump is guilty"

"At the end of the case," Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo tells the jury, "we are confident you will have no reasonable doubt that Donald Trump is guilty of falsifying business records with the intent to conceal an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of a presidential election."

Colangelo said the allegations will be backed up by testimony from from witnesses like David Pecker and Keith Davidson, and an extensive paper trail including bank records, emails, text message, phone logs and business records.

11:17 a.m. ET, April 22, 2024

Trump is writing and passing notes to lawyers as prosecutor outlines his alleged role in hush money payments

Donald Trump is still sitting back in his chair and not reacting to most of what Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is saying.

He is writing a lot and passing notes to his lawyers.

11:16 a.m. ET, April 22, 2024

"You'll need to keep an open mind," prosecutor tells jury regarding Michael Cohen's testimony

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo tells the jury in former President Donald Trump's first criminal trial that they will need to keep an open mind when assessing Michael Cohen's testimony.

"You’ll need to keep an open mind and carefully evaluate all of the evidence that corroborates Michael Cohen’s testimony," Colangelo said.

“Cohen’s testimony will be backed up,” by testimony from other witnesses and an extensive paper trail, including bank records, phone logs, business documents and other records," he added.

11:16 a.m. ET, April 22, 2024

Michael Cohen's name will come up a lot during the trial, prosecutor tells jury

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo acknowledged the jury will hear that Michael Cohen, like other witnesses who will testify at trial, “has made mistakes in his past."

"During this trial, you will hear a lot about Michael Cohen," he said.

"I suspect the defense will go to great lengths to get you to reject his testimony, precisely because it is so damning," Colangelo said.

Jurors will hear about Cohen's criminal conviction for campaign finance violations, tax crimes and lying to Congress, Colangelo told jurors during his opening statement.

The jury will also see that Cohen is "publicly committed to making sure the defendant is held accountable for his role in this conspiracy."

11:10 a.m. ET, April 22, 2024

Judge closely watching prosecutor giving opening statement

As prosecutor Matthew Colangelo gives his opening statement, Judge Juan Merchan is closely watching him.

11:09 a.m. ET, April 22, 2024

Trump intended "nobody learn about the Stormy Daniels payoff," prosecutor says

Through the payments, Donald Trump "intended that nobody learn about the Stormy Daniels payoff," prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said.

11:12 a.m. ET, April 22, 2024

Prosecutor says Trump doubled price of Stormy Daniels deal to "disguise it as income"

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said that when it came time for Donald Trump to pay Michael Cohen back for the "catch and kill deal" involving Stormy Daniels, "you’ll see he didn’t negotiate the price down. He doubled it. And he doubled it so they could disguise it as income."

Colangelo noted that Trump, Cohen and Allen Weisselberg agreed that Cohen would be paid back in monthly installments by sending fake invoices to the Trump Org each month.

It was a "clever way to pay Cohen back without being too obvious about it," the prosecutor told the jury.

The repayment to Cohen, as recorded in the business records, was "a double lie" because there was no retainer agreement and Cohen was not getting paid for legal services in 2017.

Here are key things to know about Cohen, and his role in the case:

11:07 a.m. ET, April 22, 2024

Prosecutor walks jurors through $130,000 payment

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo is walking the jury through the $130,000 payment Trump made to Michael Cohen, and how they reached that number by including funds for taxes because the money was being listed as income and not as a reimbursement.

He notes former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg wrote down all of these figures in the Cohen repayment.

Jurors will see in Weisselberg's handwriting how they calculated Cohen's reimbursement payments. Weisselberg's notes show that it was "a grossed up way to disguise” the payment, Colaneglo said.

Colangelo said jurors will see, "Donald Trump was a very frugal business man who believed in pinching pennies."

"He believed in watching every dollar. He believed in negotiating every bill," the prosecutor said.