Donald Trump trial LIVE: Prosecutors detail the ‘catch and kill’ plot to cover up his ‘affair’ with Karen McDougal

Donald Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said her ‘false allegations’ she had an affair with the former president were ‘sinister’.

‘It was an attempt to embarrass President Trump, to embarrass his family,’ Blanche said in his opening statement.

The saga between Trump and porn star Daniels began in 2006 when they met at a golf tournament in Nevada.

The case revolves around the payment made to Daniels by Trump’s then-fixer Michel Cohen ahead of the 2016 presidential election to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.

She claims it occurred less than four months after Melania Trump gave birth to the couple’s son, Barron.

Since then there have been legal twists and turns at every corner, while Trump has spent four years in the White House and is now in the middle of bid for another term.

Trump has consistently denied the affair and insists there was no sexual encounter.

Here is a timeline of her salacious claims.

Donald Trump’s lead attorney Todd Blanche started his opening statement by insisting the former president didn’t commit a crime and ‘there is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election’.

‘The 34 counts, ladies and gentlemen, are really just pieces of paper,’ Blanche told the jury.

‘None of this was a crime,’ he added.

About the payment to Stormy Daniels, he said: ‘Ask yourself: would a frugal businessman who pinches pennies repay a $130,000 debt to the tune of $420,000?’

He then addressed the heart of the allegations in the hush money case and said: ‘I have a spoiler alert: There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It’s called democracy.’

Keith Davidson, the lawyer who cut deals for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal with the National Enquirer, texted the outlet’s editor-in-chief Dylan Howard on the evening of the 2016 election: ‘What have we done?’

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo noted the message while laying out his opening arguments before the jury.

McDougal, the 1998 Playboy playmate of the year, claims she had a year-long affair with Trump between 2006 and 2007.

She claims the pair were in ‘love’ but he has denied they had a relationship.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo brought up stories that seemed to attack Trump’s 2016 GOP primary opponents, saying they could be a part of coordination between the former president and the outlet to impact that year’s election.

Colangelo mentioned stories from the outlet that accused Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, of ‘sexual infidelity.’

He also mentioned a story that highlighted Ted Cruz’s alleged ‘family connection to the JFK assassination.’

Further, Colangelo brought up an additional National Enquirer story that accused Ben Carson of medical malpractice before the election.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo laid the groundwork for the case against Donald Trump by explaining to the jury how a ‘catch and kill’ scheme works and who was involved in Trump’s case.

‘They used a practice called catch and kill,’ he told the jury.

‘It’s a way of buying damaging information not to publish it, but to hide it, make it go away, and in this case, help the candidate.’

Colangelo argued that the ex-publisher of National Enquirer, David Pecker, allegedly paid a Trump Tower doorman $30,000 for exclusive rights to a story about the former president potentially fathering a secret child.

‘It was the first time that David Pecker had ever paid anyone for information about Donald Trump,’ Colangelo said.

The prosecutor then described another ‘catch and kill’ deal with Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who has alleged she had a months-long affair with Trump.

Colangelo told the court that additional evidence would highlight how Trump ‘desperately did not want this information about Karen McDougal to become public because he was concerned about the election.’

Trump shook his head as a prosecutor told the courtroom that he orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2106 election.

‘This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up, the defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election,’ Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said.

Matthew Colangelo, a prosecutor under New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, is arguing before the jurors now.

‘Then he covered up that criminal conspiracy by lying in his New York business records over and over and over again,’ Colangelo said.

Former President Donald Trump appeared to have difficulty staying awake as Judge Merchan delivered lengthy instructions to the jury.

According to reporters in the room, Trump’s eyes appeared closed at several points and his head seemed to nod down before he snapped back to attention.

Merchan gave the jurors instructions for nearly 30 minutes as Trump seemed to ward off sleepiness.

Judge Juan Merchan tells jurors they cannot guess or speculate about what a witness may have seen or what they know.

He said those who take the stand should only speak about ‘matters they have personal knowledge of.’

Here are some of the key figures set to testify in the case in the coming weeks.

Trump shook his head in court as Judge Merchan said that he could be questioned on a slew of damaging matters.

Before the jury came in, he ruled that the transcript of the infamous Access Hollywood tape should be allowed in as evidence, even if the tape itself cannot be played because it would be prejudicial.

Merchan also ruled on material outside of the case that Trump can be cross examined on if he gives evidence.

He said Trump could be questioned on outside matters if they were ‘criminal, vicious and immoral acts.’

Trump shook his head in clear frustration as the judge said that prosecutors could grill him about the $364 million verdict handed down by another New York judge for business fraud.

He also could be asked about combined fines of $15,000 for making ‘untrue, disparaging and personally identifying posts’ about the judge’s law clerk in that case.’

Judge Juan Merchan asks the jury to be brought in ahead of opening statements.

‘Members of the jury, we are about to proceed with the trial of the people of the state of New York vs Donald J Trump,’ he says.

‘You must decide this case on the evidence’.

Merchan told the panel of 12 Manhattan residents that the ‘defendant is presumed innocent’ in the proceedings, and they should find him ‘not guilty’ if prosecutors don’t meet the ‘burden of proof’.

Prosecutors can ask Donald Trump about both E. Jean Carroll verdicts in federal court if he takes the stand in the hush money trial, the judge ruled on Monday.

In both cases, a jury found that Trump defamed the Elle columnist when he denied rape allegations.

He was also found liable for sexual assault.

Donald Trump questioned why pro-Palestinian protesters are allowed to ‘roam cities’ and ‘block traffic’ while MAGA supporters are shut down.

The former president then urged his faithful fans to protest ‘all over the country’ hours before opening statements in the hush money trial began.

‘America Loving Protesters should be allowed to protest at the front steps of Courthouses, all over the Country, just like it is allowed for those who are destroying our Country on the Radical Left, a two-tiered system of justice,’ he posted on Truth Social on Monday morning.

He started off by asking: ‘Why are Palestinian protesters, and even rioters, allowed to roam the Cities, scream, shout, sit, block traffic, enter buildings, not get permits, and basically do whatever they want including threatening Supreme Court Justices right in front of their homes, and yet people who truly LOVE our Country, and want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, are not allowed to “Peacefully Protest,” and are rudely and systematically shut down and ushered off to far away “holding areas,” essentially denying them their Constitutional Rights.’

Despite one of the jurors expressing concern over the media attention they may receive as a result of the highly publicized trial, they will remain on the panel, Judge Juan Merchan said.

‘Juror number nine is going to remain with us,’ Merchan said.

He added that the media attention is ‘not going to be an issue.’

Senior U.S. Political Reporter Rob Crilly reports from court:

Trump walked in at the head of his defense team, shoulders slightly stooped.

He took his seat in the front row of the court, facing a wall of 20ft high wood paneling, inscribed with ‘In God We Trust.’

One of his top campaign aides, Jason Miller, has taken a seat at the back of the court

Six rows of journalists are seated on hard wooden benches behind the defendant.

The court has a scuffed, tiled floor. And has been modified for the trial, with four large video screens.

A pool of photographers has just hurried in to take pictures of Trump.

Former President Donald Trump has arrived at the courtroom for his ongoing hush money trial.

Shortly before entering the courtroom, he spoke to the press calling the trial ‘a witch hunt.’

‘This is a witch hunt and it’s a shame,’ Trump said.

‘I just want people to understand that this is done for purposes of hurting the opponent of the worst president in the history of our country.’

Trump also called the trial election interference, saying it keeps him from events in battleground states crucial to his re-election effort.

The former president also did not mince words about another ongoing trial that he’s embroiled in.

‘Second of all, we have another trial going on right now. That’s Leticia James. She campaigned on the fact that ‘I will get Trump, I’m going to get Trump’ and it has to do with a bond of $175 million.’

Currently, Trump is attempting to post a bond payment in New York, but New York Attorney General Letitia James has brought up issues with the settlement.

Trump entered the room just before 9:30 a.m.

Donald Trump left his Manhattan home on Monday morning and headed to court to hear opening statements in the historic hush money trial after tearing into pro-Palestinian protesters.

The former president could also be confronted with the prosecutors’ first witness, former National Enquirer publisher and friend David Pecker.

The 77-year-old waved and raised his fist to photographers and onlookers as he walked across the sidewalk from Trump Tower and got into his waiting SUV.

On Monday morning he took to Truth Social to post ‘witch hunt’ and ‘election interference’ to slam the Stormy Daniels case he says is a political prosecution.

He also asked why pro-Palestinian demonstrators were allowed to ‘roam cities’ and ‘block traffic’ while his supporters weren’t allowed to protest outside court.

He issued a rallying cry to his MAGA faithful and told them to march ‘across the country’.

Donald Trump was ‘devastated’ on Saturday when he had to cancel his first rally since the start of the hush money trial.

The former president was set to speak to his MAGA faithful in Wilmington, North Carolina.

But a storm forced him to suspend the event. He called into the site and apologized to the thousands of fans who had shown up to watch him.

He promised to reschedule a ‘bigger and better’ event at the same location as ‘quickly as possible’.

Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki used Taylor Swift to taunt Donald Trump over the weekend.

Psaki, who now works for MSNBC after serving under Joe Biden, posted a graphic with a court sketch from the former president’s trial with the caption: ‘Tortured Jurors Department’.

It was a spin on the title of Swift’s new album that was released last week.

Biden has been reportedly seeking Switf’s endorsement ahead of his rematch with Donald Trump.

Trump has said she would be ‘disloyal’ if he backed his rival.

Witness testimony will pause on Tuesday when the judge considers whether Donald Trump should be held in contempt for violating the gag order.

Attorneys for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said the former president should be punished for sharing a New York Post article calling Michael Cohen a ‘serial perjurer’ and ’embarrassment’ to the court system.

Another was Trump resharing a quote from Fox News host Jesse Watters saying the defense team is ‘catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge’ to get on the jury.

Here is a recap of the accusations against him.

Friday turned into one of the most dramatic days of Donald Trump’s hush money trial.

Tragic and horrifying scenes unfolded outside the court when a man set himself on fire in a park across the street. He later died in hospital.

Inside court proceedings continued with jurors breaking down in tears and lawyers fighting over what evidence should be heard.

One prospective juror admitted to the court that she was an ex-con, and questioned if she was allowed to be considered.

Another said the whole trial was ‘more stressful than I thought’ and was sent home.

At the end of the day, prosecutors argued that Trump’s $355million fraud fine and the E. Jean Carroll sex assault defamation ruling should be heard by the jurors.

Twelve Manhattan residents have been selected to decide the fate of Donald Trump in the hush money trial.

They went through a rigorous process last week to ensure they would be impartial and fair when deciding if the former president is guilty or not guilty.

Now they have had the weekend to think over their selection, will they change their minds and tell the judge they can’t move forward with the trial.

One juror dropped out last week after she got concerned that her family and friends already knew she was on the case.

Others have also dropped out because they felt overwhelmed by the anxiety and stress surrounding the trial.

Privacy of the jurors has also been a worry.

An NYU law professor believes that David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, will provide ‘dynamite evidence’ against Donald Trump when he takes the stand on Monday morning.

It was revealed over the weekend in a New York Times report that Pecker would be the first witness called against the ex-president during his historic trial in Manhattan over allegations he participated in a hush money scheme ahead of the 2016 election.

‘Pecker could be key witness – in ways more devastating than Michael Cohen .This also indicates DA is foregrounding unlawful election influence for jurors,’ Professor Ron Goodman tweeted.

‘Pecker’s testimony should be strong proof of core allegation that the hush money scheme was geared toward influencing the outcome of the presidential election,’ he added.

Once opening statements have finished, prosecutors are set to call David Pecker as their first witness.

Pecker is a central figure in the case after he alerted Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen about Stormy Daniels and her plan to reveal her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

Pecker alerted Trump in October 2016 of Daniel’s affair but she ultimately settled a $130,000 non-disclosure deal with Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen.

Pecker is expected to detail how he worked with Trump and his personal lawyer Michael Cohen to broker deals.

Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial in Manhattan kicks off on Monday with opening statements and could end with testimony from the first witness.

Prosecutors will lay out whether the 77-year-old hid a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels to cover up their alleged affair in a bid to help him win the 2016 election.

Then Trump’s legal team will tell the jury how they will defend the first former president in history to stand criminal trial.

Jury selection finished on Friday with 12 members on the full panel and six alternates.

Here are some details on who they are.