Trump in NY court for opening statements at criminal trial

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00 Day five of Trump's hush money criminal trial marks the start of weeks of testimony set

00:06 to come on the former president's personal life, as prosecutors deliver their opening

00:12 arguments.

00:13 Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records as part of an alleged scheme to silence

00:19 stories that could have been damaging to his 2016 presidential campaign.

00:24 At the heart of the allegations - a $130,000 payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels

00:30 by Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with

00:36 Trump from surfacing in the final days of the presidential race.

00:41 Trump has denied the sexual encounter and pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of

00:46 falsifying business records.

00:49 Prosecutors have said the Daniels payment was part of a broader catch-and-kill scheme

00:53 hatched by Trump, his former lawyer, and David Pecker.

00:58 The former chief executive of tabloid publisher American Media is set to be the first witness

01:03 called after opening statements, according to CNN and the New York Times.

01:08 According to prosecutors, Pecker agreed in 2015 to act as the campaign's "eyes and ears"

01:14 by looking out for negative stories about Trump.

01:17 Prosecutors plan to call at least 20 witnesses in a trial that could last six to eight weeks.

01:23 The case is seen by many legal experts as the least consequential of the Trump prosecutions.

01:29 The guilty verdict would not bar him from taking office, but it could hurt his candidacy.

Category

Transcript

Recommended