Prosecutors at Trump criminal trial raise prospect of contempt order

NEW York prosecutors said at the start of Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Monday (Apr 16) they would ask a judge to hold the former president in contempt after they described a “pressure campaign” against his former fixer and a likely witness Michael Cohen.

With Trump seated at the defence table, prosecutors cited Trump’s criticism of witnesses, court officials and others over the years. They spoke on the first day of a historic trial that stems from a 2016 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

“We will be seeking an order to show cause as to why the defendant should not be held in contempt,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told Justice Juan Merchan. It was not clear what penalties the prosecutor might seek.

Steinglass urged Merchan to allow prosecutors to show Trump’s 2018 tweets directed at Cohen, which Steinglass described as a pressure campaign to prevent Cohen from cooperating with law enforcement.

“The truth is that Michael Cohen stayed loyal for as long as he did because of the defendant’s pressure campaign,” Steinglass said. “This effort continues to this very day.”

Trump, 77, is required to attend the trial, which is expected to last through May and could complicate his bid to win back the White House as the Republican 2024 candidate.

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The selection of 12 jurors and six alternates from a pool of Manhattan residents is expected to take about a week, followed by witness testimony.

Wearing his signature blue suit and red tie, Trump, 77, watched while Merchan set limits on witnesses and evidence to be presented at trial and denied a motion by Trump’s lawyers to have the judge recuse himself.

The judge said some 500 potential jurors were waiting while legal arguments took place.

New York state prosecutors accuse Trump of falsifying records to cover up a US$130,000 payment in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels about a 2006 sexual encounter she has said they had.

Trump has denied any such relationship. He pleaded not guilty last year to 34 counts of falsification of business records in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, in New York state court.

Cohen has testified that he made the payments to buy Daniels’ silence ahead of the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating campaign finance law, though the federal prosecutors who brought that case did not charge Trump.

Police stand guard

Police stood guard in front of the courthouse amid a maze of barricades, and helicopters shadowed the motorcade of black SUVs that ferried Trump from his Trump Tower apartment.

A handful of protesters, gathered in the plaza across the street, carried hand-painted signs reading “LOSER” and “convict Trump already.”

Though the case is regarded by some legal experts as the least consequential of the four criminal prosecutions he faces, it is the only one guaranteed to go to trial before the Nov five election.

If convicted, Trump could still hold office but Reuters/Ipsos polling shows a guilty verdict could hobble his prospects.

The businessman-turned-politician, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, has used past court appearances to rally his supporters and claim he is being targeted by his political enemies.

Over the past year, Trump has criticised witnesses, court officials and relatives of those involved in the various legal cases – prompting Merchan and two other judges to impose limited gag orders against him.

Trump’s legal team has for months filed a flurry of legal motions to delay or derail his cases.

In this case, Trump has unsuccessfully sought to force Merchan to step aside, arguing that he faces a conflict of interest because the judge’s daughter has worked with Democratic politicians.

“This is an outrage,” Trump said before entering the courtroom. “This is political persecution.”

Trump faces four criminal cases

In his three other criminal cases, Trump stands accused of mishandling classified information and trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He has painted all the criminal cases against him as a plot by Biden’s Democrats to undermine his presidential campaign.

Bragg has argued that the case concerns an unlawful scheme to corrupt the 2016 election by burying a scandalous story that would have harmed Trump’s campaign. Trump’s lawyers have said the payment to Daniels did not amount to an illegal campaign contribution.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published last week found that nearly two in three voters found the charges in the case at least somewhat serious. One in four of his fellow Republicans and half of independents said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted of a felony.

Tabloids and a playboy playmate

Choosing a jury from a pool of people from heavily Democratic Manhattan could take several days, to be followed by opening statements and testimony from a parade of potentially riveting witnesses, including Cohen and Daniels.

David Pecker, the former head of the National Enquirer tabloid, will also testify that he ran stories in the tabloid to boost Trump’s 2016 campaign, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said.

Also due on the witness stand is Karen McDougal, a former nude model for Playboy magazine who prosecutors say was paid by the National Enquirer to keep quiet about an affair she says she had with Trump.

Merchan said he would not permit witnesses or prosecutors to tell the jury that the affair took place while Trump’s wife Melania was pregnant with their child.

Trump has said he plans to testify in his own defence, a risky proposition that would open him up to probing cross-examination by prosecutors.

Merchan said he would not permit the jury to see other evidence of questionable sexual behaviour by Trump, including a tape from the “Access Hollywood” TV show that included denigrating comments about a female host.

Trump is accused of falsely recording reimbursements to Cohen as monthly legal retainer fees in his New York-based real estate company’s books. Falsifying business records in New York is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, though many defendants convicted of that charge have been sentenced to fines or probation.

Trump’s defence has argued that his payments to Cohen in 2017, while he was president, were for legal services. Trump has called Cohen a “serial liar” and his lawyers are expected to attack his credibility at trial. REUTERS