The first-ever criminal trial of a former president in American history got underway on Monday in a lower Manhattan courtroom with the trial of former President Donald Trump. The presumed Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, showed up in a state of New York courthouse where he faces charges of fabricating financial documents to hide a porn star sex scandal.
The former president is the subject of four state and federal indictments, the first of which was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. However, it could be the only one to go to trial before the November election due to delays in the other cases, thus increasing its potential political significance.
Alvin Bragg Argued That Trump Has Plotted To Conceal Proof Of An Affair
The jury selection process started on Monday afternoon and should last around two weeks. However, Justice Juan Merchan made decisions on several motions before calling prospective jurors into the chamber. A request by Trump’s legal team asking him to resign from the case and citing purported conflicts of interest involving the judge’s family was denied by Merchan.
“We want to follow the law,” Merchan stated, adding that “there is no agenda here.” We desire that justice be served. However, Merchan dismissed the accusations as “rumors” and declared that he would not let the prosecution present any proof of the claims that Trump had sexually assaulted women. The statements made in the run-up to the 2016 election were intended to buttress Bragg’s team’s argument to the jury that Trump plotted to conceal proof of an affair out of fear of losing the support of female voters.
