NEW YORK: Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to stand criminal trial on Monday when he appeared in a Manhattan court to face charges stemming from a hush-money payment to an actor that could complicate his bid to win back the White House.
"This is political persecution," Trump, 77, said before entering the courtroom and taking his seat at the defense table with by his attorneys and wearing his signature blue suit and red tie.
He is required to attend the trial, which is expected to last through May. Jury selection is expected to take about a week, followed by witness testimony.
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. 5 election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could still hold office but 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 persecuted by his political enemies.
New York state prosecutors accuse him of falsifying records to cover up a $130,000 payment in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign to buy the silence of actor Stormy Daniels about a 2006 assault encounter.
Trump has 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.
In his three other criminal cases, he 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.
On Monday morning, Trump repeated those claims on social media and said Justice Juan Merchan.
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. — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
