‘A criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election’: Prosecutor’s opening statement in Trump hush-money trial casts payments as electoral fraud conspiracy

Donald Trump sits in court in New York

Former President Donald Trump sits in court on the first day of opening arguments in his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Monday, April 22, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)

The hush-money trial for former president Donald Trump, 77, kicked off in earnest with opening statements in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City, New York County on Monday morning.

The defendant faces a 34-count felony indictment over allegedly falsified business records related to payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, 45, during the waning days of the 2016 election.

In the historic case, the first criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president, prosecutors have long alleged Trump fraudulently prepared certain business records to paper over an electoral conspiracy.

Prosecutors hewed to that script in the cold Centre Street courtroom.

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