Opening statements in the hush money case against Donald Trump kicked off Monday in New York with the 45th commander-in-chief facing the first-ever criminal trial against a former president.
For 40 minutes the prosecution laid out their case, claiming Trump orchestrated a campaign to silence potentially damning stories during his 2016 presidential campaign.
The prosecutor made the case that this is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover up, alleging that Trump broke the law to bury a sex scandal in order to get elected president in 2016.
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told twelve New York jurors in his opening statement that Trump worked with his former legal counsel Michael Cohen and David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer, to "catch and kill" negative stories about Trump.
At the center of this case is a $130,000 payment that Cohen paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her from speaking out about an alleged affair with Trump.
Prosecutors claim Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment and then falsified business records to conceal it.
Trump spoke to reporters as he left the courthouse and claimed the case is a Biden witch hunt to keep him off the campaign trail.
"They take this payment and they call it a legal expense. And you heard it today for the first time. This is what I got indicted for. This is what took me off and takes me off the campaign trail because I should be in Georgia now. I should be in Florida now. I should be in a lot of different places right now campaigning and I'm sitting here and this will go on for a long time. It's very unfair, this judge is conflicted as you know, it's very unfair what's going on and I should be allowed to campaign," Trump said.
Pecker was the first witness called in the case and he spoke about how his tabloid paid for stories – but he only testified for a few minutes before the court adjourned. Cohen is also expected to be another central witness as the case continues.
Trump's lawyers have questioned Cohen's credibility and claim President Trump is innocent and did not commit any crimes.
The New York court system says now that arguments are underway the trial should last about six to eight weeks.
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