Opening statements in the unprecedented criminal trial of former president and current Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump have begun in New York.
The judge in the case, Juan Murchan, said opening arguments would be presented by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team and Trump’s defense attorneys. On Friday, after four days of selection, the full jury of 12 jurors, plus six alternates, was sworn in.
The first witness, David Packer, former publisher of the National Enquirer, who is called by the prosecution, is also expected to appear before the court.
Donald Trump, the near-certain Republican nominee in November’s race for the White House, has been charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records. The charges relate to alleged secret payments of money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election to buy her silence following her allegations of an alleged affair with Trump.
The former president has already pleaded not guilty to all charges, calling the trial a “political purge”.
The trial against Trump is the only one of the four criminal charges against him that will take place before the election. But if convicted, it could earn him a fine and an effective sentence of up to 4 years in prison.
Worked on the publication: Georgi Daskalov
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