In the United States, former President Donald Trump appeared in the Manhattan court in New York for the trial of the historic criminal case. Earlier, he appeared in court on April 15.
After the formation of a full 12-member jury to conduct the trial, he appeared in court again on Monday for the hearing of preliminary legal arguments.
As he entered the court, he complained about his trial. He described the day of his trial as ‘a very, very sad day for America’.
In a brief address to reporters outside the courtroom before the hearing began, Trump again called the trial “very unfair” and an attempt to interfere with the election. Even before going to court, Trump took to Truth Social on Monday morning to call his trial a witch hunt.
According to the BBC, the district attorney’s office said their preliminary legal arguments in Manhattan court today will last about 40 minutes. And Trump’s attorneys will argue for about 25 minutes.
Jury selection is now complete. They appeared in the courtroom. Trump’s fate now hangs on a judge and 12 jurors, including attorneys as well as counsel.
Trump is the first former US president to face criminal charges. Trump’s trial in this case is going on during the campaign for the presidential election.
Trump’s then lawyer Michael Cohen bribed former porn star Stormy Daniels with about $130,000 during the 2016 US presidential election to not open up about his sexual relationship with Trump.
The jury is expected to evaluate Trump’s guilt or innocence in the bribery case in the next few weeks.
In addition to the bribery allegations, Trump is also accused of falsifying his business records to keep the matter under wraps. A total of 34 charges have been brought against Trump for falsifying business records.
Trump has denied all these charges. Trump, the potential candidate of the Republican Party against Democrat President Joe Biden in the US presidential election to be held on November 5, has been calling the case “political”.
If convicted of the charges, Trump faces a maximum sentence of 1 year, 4 months to 4 years in prison.
But whether or not Trump is convicted of criminal charges or sentenced to prison will have no bearing on his eligibility for the presidency. Rather, Trump can be sworn in as president from jail or house arrest if he wins the election despite being convicted or sentenced.
