- Jury selection began Monday for former US Pres. Donald Trump's criminal trial on 34 felony charges of allegedly falsifying business records to hide hush-money payments to Karen McDougal Stormy Daniels. New York Post (LR: 5 CP: 5)
- The charges include falsifying records to hide a $130K reimbursement Trump gave to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, which the attorney made to Daniels in October 2016 to keep her quiet about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter she had with Trump. NBC (LR: 2 CP: 4)
- Justice Juan Merchan will dismiss any prospective jurors who say they can't be impartial or otherwise serve. The remaining jurors will answer a 42-question survey, with lawyers from the prosecution and defense allowed to dismiss a select number they deem ineligible. New York Times (LR: 2 CP: 5)
- Jury questions range from whether or not they've worked for a pro- or anti-Trump organization to what media they consume. While Merchan said he won't ask about party affiliations, the defense claims Trump can't get a fair trial in the city with heavy Democratic Party representation. wsj.com (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- The prosecution has asked Merchan on Monday to fine Trump $1K for each of three social media posts he wrote this month about Cohen and Daniels. Trump's legal team has until Friday to respond and Merchan set an April 23 hearing date on the matter. Reuters.com (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- Trump, who is required to attend the entirety of what could be an eight-week-long trial, faces four years in prison if convicted. This is the first time in history that a former president has gone to trial facing criminal charges. NBC (LR: 2 CP: 4)
Anti-Trump narrative:
- This case is historic not only because it's the first federal prosecution of a former president, but because it relates to Trump's first attempt to steal an election. By illegally falsifying business documents to keep this hush money hidden, Trump blatantly violated the law in 2016 to ensure American voters were unaware of his wrongdoings. Trump is yet again attempting to skirt the law to obtain power he could otherwise never achieve.
WASHINGTON POST (LR: 2 CP: 5)
Pro-Trump narrative:
- Alvin Bragg's case against Trump may be the clearest example of the Biden regime's grasping-at-straws legal strategy to damage their 2024 opponent. After failing to find any real crimes, Bragg reimagined the law to turn what had always been a misdemeanor into a felony. These alleged hidden hush money payments have been publicly denied by Stormy Daniels herself in 2006, 2011, 2016, 2017, and 2018. The government has weaponized the judicial system against the former president.
REVOLVER NEWS
Nerd narrative:
- There's a 50% chance that Donald Trump will be convicted of a felony before the 2024 presidential election, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)