TRUMP DOZES OFF AND MORE… TAKEAWAYS FROM DAY 1 OF DONALD TRUMP’S HUSH MONEY TRIAL

Donald Trump, the country’s former US president and the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, entered the record books on Monday, as he became the first former US commander-in-chief to stand trial on criminal charges.

The trial in the hush money payments case is expected to be a six-week-long process and is the first of the four criminal trials that Trump faces. Notably, this one comes in the midst of his 2024 bid for the American presidency.

Prior to the proceedings beginning, where he faces 34 felony counts and up to four years of prison time, the former US president called the trial an “assault on America.”

As Day 1 of the ‘The People of the State of New York vs Donald J Trump’ in which he faces charges of falsifying business records to conceal “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels at the height of the 2016 presidential election wraps up, here are the key moments.

Trump’s theatrics and a catnap

On his arrival at the Manhattan court, Donald Trump wasted no time to use the trial for his campaign. Dressed in his signature blue suit, red tie and US flag lapel pin, he set the tone of the proceedings by stating to the media and the hordes of people that the “trial is an “assault on America” and “political persecution”.

Standing outside court, he took aim at Biden, saying: “It’s a country that’s failing, it’s a country that’s run by an incompetent man and is very much involved in this case. This is really an attack on a political opponent. That is all it is, so I’m very honoured to be here.”

He further accused the judge and prosecutors leading the case, including Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, of being partisan. “It’s a scam. It’s a political witch hunt. It continues, and it continues forever. And we’re not going to be given a fair trial,” he told reporters at the end of the day.

He even complained to the media post Day 1 that the judge, Justice Juan M Merchan, was not allowing him to seen his son, Barron, graduate when he asked for a recess in the trial on 17 May for the same.

Besides slamming the trial, the biggest moment on Day 1 came when Trump appeared to doze off in court. This led to “Sleepy Don” trending on social media — a play on one of Trump’s many nicknames for President Joe Biden.

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman reported, “Trump appears to be sleeping. His head keeps dropping down, and his mouth goes slack.” Later speaking to CNN, she said: “He appeared to be asleep. And routinely his head would fall down… He didn’t pay attention to a note his lawyer Todd Blanche passed him.”

And if you think one person’s account isn’t trustworthy, other journalists pointed out the same. Susanne Craig, an investigative reporter for the Times, added that Trump seemed alert during the morning but that “everything changed” around noon.

“He looked like he was nodding off,” she said. “At one point, a pretty true tell that he was falling asleep, his head nodded down. He sort of jolted back up at one point.”

Jury selection is going to take time

The Trump trial began with the selection of the jury and if Day 1 is any indication then it’s going to take a long time. More than half of the first batch of 96 prospective jurors were promptly dismissed after they said — by a show of hands — they didn’t think they could be impartial when it came to judging Trump. Not a single juror was selected on Monday and the selection process will continue on Tuesday.

The remaining people who thought they could be fair will now face dozens of written questions and inquiries to ascertain if they are suitable. This process of bringing in hundreds of people to eventually get a panel of 12 plus alternates could last a while.

Also read: Will Donald Trump’s prosecution in hush money case help his 2024 US presidential bid?

Judge won’t recuse him and tells Trump to behave

Justice Juan M Merchan, who has a reputation of being no-nonsense, is overseeing Trump’s hush money trial. And on Day 1 of the trial, he set the tone by making it clear that the former US president would be treated like any other defendant in his courtroom.

“Good morning Mr Trump,” Merchan said after taking the bench, declining to refer to him as President Trump, as is common with former presidents. He also gave Trump a standard warning that if he disrupted court or didn’t appear for trial, he could be punished and possibly sent to jail.

Moreover, he refused to recuse himself from the case. Trump’s legal team had argued Merchan’s role is improper because his daughter heads a marketing agency that works for Democratic candidates. However, Merchan rejected Trump’s plea arguing that his impartiality couldn’t be reasonably questioned because Trump’s case doesn’t involve his daughter’s business. Notably, the judge had rejected a similar request in August.

Access Hollywood tape won’t be played

On Day 1 of the trial, some important decisions were also made that would potentially steer the case one way or another.

On Monday, Justice Merchan sided with Trump’s legal team, ruling that the infamous Access Hollywood tape wouldn’t be played in court, saying it was prejudicial. However, the judge did rule that Trump’s exact words could be entered into the record.

For the unaware, the video in question dates back to 2005 video during which Trump brags about grabbing women by their genitalia and making crude, derogatory remarks about grabbing women.

Prosecutors wanted to play the tape as an alleged admission of sexual assault. But Merchan ruled that he would only allow prosecutors to describe what Trump said.

Moreover, Merchan denied prosecutors’ request to show E Jean Carroll’s deposition from her defamation case against Trump because it would be “building in a trial into a trial.”

The trial will continue today and it will be interesting to see how Trump behaves in court and how the proceedings continue. One thing is certain, it will continue to capture the minds of people and headlines in the country.

With inputs from agencies

2024-04-16T04:54:53Z dg43tfdfdgfd