Trump Speaks Out Ahead Of Hush Money Trial Kickoff

Former President Donald Trump made history on Monday as the first former or current U.S. president to ever face a criminal trial in a case that also made him the first former chief executive to be criminally indicted.

Monday marked the start of Trump’s first criminal trial in a matter involving a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election.

Monday’s trial begins with jury selection in which hundreds of New Yorkers must be whittled down to 12 people and six alternates. That process is expected to last at least several days before opening arguments begin and star witnesses take the stand.

Around 9:30 am Trump entered the Manhattan courtroom flanked by his defense team, including Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles.

Trump spoke briefly before entering the courtroom, calling the case an “assault on America” and a “political persecution.”

“It’s an assault on America. And that’s why I’m very proud to be here,” Trump said as his remarks were carried live across major broadcast networks.

Trump is also charged in three other criminal indictments: one in Georgia over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss there, a federal indictment also involving the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, and a federal case in Florida involving the potential mishandling of classified documents after he left office.

Former President Trump’s hush money judge on Monday declined to recuse himself from the trial currently underway, refusing Trump’s latest demand that he step aside over his daughter’s employment at a firm that works for prominent Democrats. 

Justice Juan Merchan’s denial, made from the bench on the first day of Trump’s first criminal trial, eliminates what could have been an eleventh-hour curveball before jury selection begins. He said the motion relied on “a series of references, innuendos and unsupported speculation.”