With jury selection having been wrapped up last week, the first criminal trial of a former president of the United States got underway Monday morning at just about 9:30, when Judge Juan Merchan took the bench.
Opening statements in Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan were expected to take a little over an hour, with the prosecution’s statement slated to take almost twice as long as the defense’s, according to NBC News, which was providing live updates on the trial as the morning continued.
One of those updates was that alternate juror 6 — literally the last juror impaneled last week — had experienced a dental “emergency” and had scheduled an appointment for 3:00 this afternoon.
However, that appointment was moved up to 1:20, so Merchan declared that the court would recess at 12:30, allowing her to make her appointment on time.
The court was also scheduled for a short today Tuesday, planning to finish up at 2:00 p.m. for Passover.
Other “live updates” from NBC included the facts that none of Trump’s family members appeared to be present in the courtroom, but that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case against Trump but is not serving as lead prosecutor himself, was observing from the gallery.
About a half hour after Merchan took his seat on the bench, the jury was brought in, and things got underway.
Opening statements began about another 30 minutes after that, during which time the judge read the jury its instructions.
Halfway through that period, NBC informed its readers that “Trump’s eyes are shut and across the aisle, Bragg is catching a glimpse of the former president from his seat in the front row of the gallery.”
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“Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels,” the outlet noted in an arguably more cogent observation.
“He has pleaded not guilty and denied a relationship with Daniels,” it reported.
Just after midnight Monday morning, Trump expressed frustration with the case against him.
“The Corrupt Soros Funded District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, who has totally lost control of Violent Crime in New York, says that the payment of money to a lawyer, for legal services rendered, should not be referred to in a Ledger as LEGAL EXPENSE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “What other term would be more appropriate???
“Believe it or not, this is the pretext under which I was Indicted, and that Legal Scholars and Experts CANNOT BELIEVE,” he added (all emphasis original).
He also repeated the argument that his prosecution was a Democrat-originated strategy aimed at keeping him from winning the White House again in November.
“It is also the perfect Crooked Joe Biden NARRATIVE – To be STUCK in a courtroom, and not be allowed to campaign for President of the United States!” Trump wrote.
The trial is expected to last “as long as eight weeks,” according to USA Today.
