Here’s a rundown of who argued for the prosecution and the defense, as well as Monday’s witness and surprise guest.
The second week of former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan continued Monday, picking up after last week’s jury selection process.
Prosecutors laid out for the jury a rough blueprint for the case that they’ll be presenting over the next five weeks, while the defense maintained that «Donald Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes.»
The first witness was also called to the stand, although his testimony was cut short by the court’s schedule and won’t resume until Tuesday after a hearing on Trump’s alleged gag order violations.
Catch up on all of the key players from Monday’s trial proceedings below:
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, a former Justice Department attorney, presented the case on behalf of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office on Monday. Over 45 minutes, Colangelo laid out the case that the prosecution would present to the jury.
Starting with the alleged 2015 meeting between Trump, former Trump fixer Michael Cohen and former American Media, Inc. (AMI) CEO David Pecker, Colangelo went into how the men allegedly orchestrated a cover up to interfere with the 2016 presidential election by concealing Trump’s alleged affairs with adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Colangelo also previewed several pieces of evidence and names of witnesses that the prosecution would introduce to the jury. He made it immediately clear that prosecutors are aiming to make this case about election interference, beginning his arguments by telling jurors, «This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover up.»
He told the jury that Trump «orchestrated a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election, and then, he covered up the scheme by lying in his business records over and over and over again.»
Colangelo joined Bragg’s office in 2022, but he had a varied history of taking on Trump even before joining the district attorney’s team.
As the chief counsel for federal initiatives while at the New York attorney general’s office, Colangelo led dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration. In 2018, he led the investigation into the Trump Foundation, which led to its dissolution, and for a time, he was one of the lead lawyers on the civil fraud inquiry into the former president.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche delivered the defense’s opening arguments.
He began by telling jurors that while the former president is «in some ways larger than life,» Trump was also the man sitting in front of them in the courtroom, «doing what any of us would do, defending himself.»
He told the jury that Trump was not just the 45th president of the United States, but also a man, husband, father, and «just like me.
