The defense of Donald Trump, accused of falsifying documents to buy the silence of actress Stormy Daniels and thus protect his 2016 electoral campaign, assured that he is “innocent” and that he acted under the umbrella of “democracy.”
In response, Deputy District Attorney Matthew Colangelo argued that “the defendant orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 election, and then covered up the scheme by lying about his business records over and over again.”
The lawyer for the US presidential candidate, Todd Blanche, maintained that the payments made to Michael Cohen, a former lawyer who worked for Trump until 2017, worth $420,000 were made to compensate for his legal “services” and not to compensate him for orchestrating a plan to hide information that could harm the former president, as alleged by the Prosecutor’s Office.
Blanche argued that Trump has the right to the presumption of innocence, “something that some of his critics lose sight of,” and that the Prosecutor’s Office has presented “a very nice and simple story” because they do not understand that the figure of the former president “overflows the reality”.
Likewise, he took advantage of this statement to criticize Stormy Daniels, whom he described as a “biased” person who has “made a career” selling her alleged affair with Trump.
And he also charged against Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges derived from the payment, which he defined as “obsessed” with Trump.
The opening statements phase ended earlier than expected due to a medical issue involving one of the alternate jurors.
Trump faces a maximum of four years in prison for each crime if convicted, but according to US media, it is unclear what the final sentence will be given the lack of precedent, and some even suggest that the judge could impose only evidentiary measures.
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2024-04-28 15:07:13