- On Monday, the hush money trial of former Pres. Donald Trump, who's the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for this year's election, began in Manhattan with opening statements. FOX 13 Tampa Bay
- Trump arrived at the courthouse around 9 a.m., addressing a camera and calling the trial a "witch hunt" before he entered the courtroom. The session was expected to last until 2 p.m. because of Passover, but it was cut short at 12:30 p.m. because of a juror’s dentist appointment. Associated Press (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- Prosecuting attorney Matthew Colangelo, representing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, accused Trump and his then-attorney Michael Cohen of agreeing "to cook the books" to make an alleged hush payment to Stormy Daniels look like "payment for services rendered." ABC7 New York
- Todd Blanche, a Trump attorney, countered that the former president is “innocent” and “did not commit any crimes" because Trump had nothing to do with a $420K payment to Cohen, who paid Daniels $130K to not speak about her alleged relationship with Trump. ABC7 New York
- Colangelo then called David Pecker of the National Enquirer as the first witness, saying Pecker had direct knowledge of Trump’s alleged scheme. Pecker is expected to return to the stand Tuesday. ABC7 New York
Pro-Trump narrative:
- This case is only for public spectacle, and it's good that Trump's defense tore apart every aspect of it Monday. Prosecutors can't single out any crime Trump committed, but Bragg is politically motivated to try to sidetrack the former president's current run for a return to the White House.
DAILY CALLER (LR: 5 CP: 4)
Anti-Trump narrative:
- There was nothing groundbreaking about the opening statements, but prosecutors picked the perfect first witness. If Trump did what he's accused of doing, he was probably desperate enough to get the media involved — and Pecker's publication would've been the perfect outlet to turn to in an effort to keep things under wraps.
MSNBC (LR: 1 CP: 5)
Nerd narrative:
- There's a 72% chance that Trump will be found guilty of at least one felony in his New York "hush money" trial, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)