NEW YORK –
A reluctant Donald Trump returned to a New York City courtroom Thursday as his hush money trial resumed at the same time the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in Washington on whether he should be immune from prosecution for actions he took. during his term as president.
The jury will hear more testimony from a veteran tabloid editor, and Trump faces a looming decision on whether he violated a gag order imposed by the judge. But he had asked to skip his criminal trial for the day so he could attend the high court’s special session, where judges will weigh whether he can be prosecuted for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
“We have a big case today,” Trump said during an early morning campaign stop in Manhattan to visit construction workers. “The judge doesn’t allow me to go.”
Their request was denied by New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchán, who is overseeing the trial into the hush money scheme that was supposedly aimed at preventing damaging stories about Trump from emerging in the final days of the campaign. of 2016.
“Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can certainly understand why your client would want to be there, but a trial in the New York Supreme Court… is also a big deal,” Merchan told the lawyer. Trump, Todd Blanche, last time. week when he rejected the idea.
Although they were 200 miles (320 kilometers) apart (and completely separate cases), Thursday’s proceedings blended into a vast legal and political puzzle that has implications not only for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee but also for the American presidency as a whole.
In both cases, Trump is trying to get out of legal danger while making another bid for the White House. But the outcome of the Supreme Court case will have lasting implications for future presidents, because the justices will answer the never-before-asked question of “whether, and if so, to what extent, a former president enjoys presidential immunity from a criminal proceedings for conduct”. “allegedly involves official acts during his tenure.”
The high court’s decision may not affect the New York City case, which hinges primarily on Trump’s conduct as a presidential candidate in 2016, not as president. He faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush payments intended to prevent embarrassing stories from emerging. It is the first of four criminal cases against Trump to go before a jury.
Trump has maintained that he is not guilty of any of the charges against him. In New York, he maintains that the stories that were bought and silenced were false.
The trial in New York resumes after a scheduled day off with more testimony from the Manhattan district attorney’s first witness, David Pecker, a former National Enquirer editor and longtime friend of Trump who pledged to be his “eyes and ears” during his 2016 presidency. run campaign.
Asked during his campaign appearance Thursday what he thought of Pecker’s testimony, Trump responded: “David has been very kind, a good guy.”
Pecker explained to jurors earlier this week how he and the tabloid leveraged rumors into splashy stories that smeared Trump’s opponents and, just as crucially, leveraged their connections to suppress sordid stories about Trump, including a porn actor’s claim of an extramarital sexual encounter for years. ago before.
Pecker traced the origins of their relationship to a 1980s meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and said the friendship blossomed alongside the success of the real estate developer’s television show “The Apprentice” and the subsequent celebrity version of the show. .
Pecker recounted how he promised then-candidate Trump that he would help suppress harmful stories and even managed to buy a bouncer’s silence.
“I made the decision to buy the story because of the potential embarrassment to the campaign and Mr. Trump,” Pecker said of the bouncer story that his publication later determined was not true.
Merchan, the judge, also can decide whether to hold Trump in contempt and fine him for what prosecutors say were violations of a gag order barring the Republican leader from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and others connected to the case.
Some of Trump’s recent online posts in question included one that described prosecution witnesses Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, and Stormy Daniels, the porn actor, as “sleazy” and another that repeated a false claim that liberal activists They had tried to infiltrate the jury.
Trump was dismissive about the upcoming decision. When reporters asked him if he would pay the $1,000 fine for each of the 10 posts, he responded: “Oh, I have no idea.” He then said: “They have taken away my constitutional right with a gag order.”
Merchan criticized Blanche this week for excusing the posts by saying that Trump was simply responding to political attacks and commenting on his experience with the criminal justice system.
“When your client violates the gag order, I expect more than one word,” Merchan said.
A jury conviction in the secret money investigation would not prevent Trump from being president again, but since this is a state case, he would not be able to forgive himself if he were found guilty. The charge is punishable by up to four years in prison, although it is unclear whether the judge would seek to put him behind bars.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court arguments are related to charges filed in federal court in Washington, where Trump has been accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. The case arises from Trump’s attempts to have the charges dismissed against him. Lower courts have determined that he cannot claim immunity for actions that prosecutors say sought to illegally interfere with election results.
The high court is moving faster than usual in taking up the case, although not as quickly as special prosecutor Jack Smith wanted, raising questions about whether there will be time for a trial before the November election if the justices are according to lower courts that Trump can be prosecuted.
——
For a long time he reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.