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Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial is now truly underway with the prosecution and defence teams having presented their opening statements.
Tabloid mogul David Pecker, who owned The National Enquirer and was part of the “catch-and-kill” scheme at the heart of the case, has also begun giving testimony.
As the day began Judge Juan Merchan ruled that prosecutors can question Mr Trump about a blockbuster fraud ruling, gag order violations and defamation verdicts if he chooses to testify.
Court has now adjourned for the Passover holiday and will reconvene on Tuesday morning.
The defendant has been vociferously complaining about the case on Truth Social and angrily posting his presidential immunity claims — arguments about which the Supreme Court will hear on Thursday.
Elsewhere among the former president’s myriad legal issues, an agreement has been reached over Mr Trump’s $175m bond to appeal the civil fraud trial ruling and witness statements in the classified documents case have been made public.
Meanwhile, figures released by the Federal Election Commission revealed legal fees had eaten up three-quarters of the cash raised by pro-Trump Save America PAC.
Alex Woodward is providing live updates from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan throughout the trial.
Trump gripes about not being able to attend Supreme Court immunity arguments
Donald Trump is having to face the realities of being on trial for criminal charges — he has to be in court every day it is in session. That includes missing oral arguments in the Supreme Court that will greatly impact his other criminal cases…
The former president wrote on Truth Social this afternoon:
The Supreme Court will address the historic question of Presidential Immunity on Thursday, but unfortunately, I will not be able to attend. The Highly Conflicted Judge in the Manhattan D.A. “case” (Soros-backed Alvin Bragg) has prohibited me from attending. Without Presidential Immunity, the President cannot function, as his Political Opponents will blackmail and extort him with the threat of wrongful prosecution at every turn. We look forward to presenting our case to the Supreme Court.
He has been thinking about presidential immunity a lot, spending much of Saturday posting about it too.
Mr Trump also wrote the following this afternoon:
Without Immunity, the Presidency, as we know it, will no longer exist. Many actions for the benefit of our Country will not be taken. This is in no way what the Founders had in mind. Legal Experts and Scholars have stated that the President must have Full Presidential Immunity. A President must be free to make proper decisions. His mind must be clear, and he must not be guided by fear of retribution!
Without Presidential Immunity, a President will not be able to properly function, or make decisions, in the best interest of the United States of America. Presidents will always be concerned, and even paralyzed, by the prospect of wrongful prosecution and retaliation, after they leave office. This could actually lead to extortion and blackmail of a President. The other side would say, “If you don’t do something, just the way we want it, we are going to go after you when you leave office, or perhaps even sooner.” A President has to be free to determine what is right for our Country, with no undue pressure!
Here’s what special counsel Jack Smith has to say about the subject:
Watch Trump response as he’s quizzed on Melania whereabouts at criminal trial
Donald Trump ignored questions on the whereabouts of his wife, Melania Trump, as he appeared at a New York courthouse on Monday, 22 April, for opening statements in his criminal trial to begin. The former first lady has been absent for months in her husband’s latest run for the White House, but plans to attend a fundraiser on Saturday for an advocacy group for LGBT+ members of the GOP. Ignoring a question about his wife, Mr Trump said the criminal trial was “election interference” in a rant repeating his claims it is also a “witch-hunt.”
Trump’s legal fees eat into his campaign funds
Donald Trump’s legal fees are taking a chunk out of his campaign funds – with one of the groups that has underwritten many of those costs having spent nearly $3.7m last month.
Figures released by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show this is what the Save America political action committee (PAC) spent in March, amounting to nearly three in every four dollars it raised during the same period.
Martha McHardy has the details:
Inside Trump’s ‘calendar of chaos’
In a typical presidential election year, candidates will spend the 11 months leading up to election day shaking hands and kissing babies at rallies as the primaries unfold.
Instead, the ex-president will be forced to juggle his campaign for the White House while also defending himself in federal and state courts in four different cases that have hearings and trial dates scattered throughout 2024.
Ariana Baio takes us through Trump’s calendar of chaos:
Analysis: Three reasons Mike Johnson’s job is safe — and one reason it might not be
Eric Garcia writes:
And just like that, after months of dragged out negotiations and false starts, the House of Representatives passed legislation to assist Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The vote showed a stunning about-face for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who as a backbencher opposed aid to Ukraine. Since then, he’s been hailed for standing up to his party — even though he only did so after he’d exhausted all other options. (Readers of Inside Washington may remember I called Johnson a coward a few months ago for refusing to put the Ukraine bill to the floor).
But the vote means Johnson has to consider whether Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the right-wing conspiracy theorist and acolyte of Donald Trump, will carry through with her threats and actually topple him from his job.
Continue reading…
What is the Trump defence strategy?
A member of Donald Trump’s legal team divulged the defence’s plan to “focus on the facts” to show that the former president did nothing wrong, one day before the opening arguments are set to begin in the landmark hush money trial.
Kelly Rissman reports:
Watch: Trump again attacks key witness Cohen in defiance of gag order
With less than 24 hours before Judge Juan Merchan holds a contempt of court hearing and rules on gag order violations by Donald Trump, the former president was at it again in the hallway immediately outside the courtroom, attacking key witness Michael Cohen.
Trump attacks Biden with claim he is trying to ‘ban TikTok’ — which he repeatedly tried and failed to do
Donald Trump is trying to blame President Joe Biden for the bill passed by the House of Representatives on Saturday that wants the Chinese-owned parent of TikTok to sell the app.
The former president is attempting to use the false story as a pitch to young voters who he is hoping won’t remember that he tried to ban or force the sale of TikTok repeatedly when he was president – including announcing a ban to reporters on Air Force One in July 2020.
John Bresnahan of Punchbowl News notes that Mr Trump reversed his position on the app after a recent meeting with GOP mega-donor Jeff Yass, who owns a multi-billion dollar stake in the company.
New Pearl Jam song is about Donald Trump ‘playing the victim’
“Wreckage” appears on Dark Matter, the Seattle band’s twelfth album, which was released on Friday (19 April).
Singer-songwriter Vedder, 59, told The Times that the song represents an appeal for unity.
Watch: Biden campaign and White House ‘well-served by being hands-off’ on Trump trial
Source: independent.co.uk
