Politics
Nine questions about the Trump trial, answered
Former President Donald Trump’s hush money court case will kick off on Monday, marking the first time a former president will stand trial over criminal charges.
The historic trial will require Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for the 2024 election, to defend himself from the Manhattan courtroom while simultaneously campaigning as the election season heats up.
Fox News Digital compiled the top questions regarding the case ahead of it kicking off Monday at 10 a.m in Lower Manhattan.
According to initial reports, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove former President Trump from the state primary ballot on Thursday. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
What are the origins of this case?
Dubbed the “hush money case,” the trial’s origins reach back to October of 2016, when Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen paid former pornographic actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to allegedly quiet her claims of an alleged extramarital affair she had with the then-real estate tycoon in 2006. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.
Stormy Daniels speaking to the media. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)
The case is also expected to feature two other payments, including a $30,000 payment to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock, and arranged a $150,000 payment through a tabloid publisher to a former Playboy model named Karen McDougal, who also claimed she had an affair with Trump and sold her story to the tabloid. Trump has also vehemently denied these allegations.
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Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to U.S. President Donald Trump, right, outside federal court in New York on Thursday, December 14, 2023. Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen, and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses.
“During the election, TRUMP and others employed a ‘catch and kill’ scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged last year. “TRUMP then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.”
“Catch-and-kill” schemes are understood as tactics used by media and publishing companies to buy the rights of a person’s story with the intention of burying the information.
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What are the charges in the case?
Bragg announced Trump’s indictment in April of 2023 with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
The charges stem from checks reimbursing Cohen over a roughly 12-month period for paying Daniels in 2016. Cohen was separately arrested in 2018 and pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress. He was sentenced to three years in prison and has since been released.
Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor, but prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with an intent to commit or conceal a second crime, which would be a felony.
Former President Donald Trump during a Super Tuesday election night watch party at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Trump notched a series of Republican presidential primary victories on Tuesday as he barrels closer toward his party’s nomination. Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Could Trump go to prison?
The charges against Trump carry more than a decade in prison, if he is convicted on the counts.
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Legal experts across the nation have weighed in that it is unlikely Trump would face a long prison sentence, if convicted, speculating that the 45th president would instead be given probation or up to four years in prison if found guilty by the jury, Fox News previously reported.
How has Bragg turned this into a felony?
Charges of falsifying business records are misdemeanors in New York, with prosecutors teeing up a case arguing that Trump falsified the business records to cover another crime, which makes falsifying the records a felony. Legal experts have weighed in that prosecutors will argue that Trump’s alleged actions were to conceal campaign finance crimes.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a news conference on Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Legal experts who spoke to Fox News Digital expressed skepticism over the DA’s office linking the case to campaign finance crimes, with the Heritage Foundation’s senior legal fellow Zack Smith saying that prosecutors are trying to “bootstrap essentially what would ordinarily be misdemeanor charges into felony offenses.”
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“Some of the charges he’s trying to bring are false records charges against Donald Trump. Which are ordinarily misdemeanors, unless they were done in furtherance of another felony – simply to cover up another felony. And in this case, as I understand it, Alvin Bragg is saying that the other felony was a federal campaign finance violation. So, you simply have a state prosecutor pursuing a state case against Donald Trump, based on a federal felony offense that the federal government, the Justice Department itself, declined to pursue,” Smith told Fox News Digital in an interview earlier this month.
The Justice Department in 2019 “effectively concluded” its investigation into Trump’s payments. In 2021, the Federal Elections Commission, the agency dedicated to enforcing campaign finance laws, announced that it had dropped a case looking into whether Trump had violated election laws for the payment to Daniels.
Former FEC member Hans Von Spakovsky underscored to Fox News Digital in another interview that both the FEC and DOJ had declined to pursue the case, yet a local DA is working to prove that Trump violated federal law.
“The [FEC] looked at this and said that this settlement was not a violation of federal law. The Justice Department also has criminal enforcement authority over federal campaign finance laws, and the Justice Department has also not considered this a crime. And so you have this local DA claiming there’s a violation of federal law, when the two federal agencies with enforcement authority over that law say, ‘Well, no, there there was no violation of federal law.’ And look, I say that as a former commissioner on the FEC. My job as a commissioner was to enforce federal campaign finance law, and this is simply not a violation of federal law,” he said.
Can Trump pardon himself if elected?
In the hush money case, Trump could not pardon himself if convicted, and if he wins re-election come November 5. The Constitution dictates that a president’s pardoning powers “grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States,” meaning the powers only apply to federal cases. The hush money case is a state case.
Who is the judge?
Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan, 61, is presiding over the case. Merchan, originally from Colombia, has served on the New York Supreme Court since 2009, overseeing felony criminal cases. He previously served as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office in the 1990s and worked in the New York State Attorney General’s office, among other roles.
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FILE PHOTO: A view of Judge Juan Manuel Merchan’s courtroom in New York City, March 12, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo (Reuters)
Merchan has previously overseen high-profile cases, including in 2012 the case of the “soccer mom madam,” when a woman named Anna Gristina was charged with running a high-end prostitution ring in Manhattan. He also presided over the Trump Organization’s 2022 criminal trial involving charges of criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records, and he is currently overseeing a case involving Trump-supporter Steven Bannon on charges that he defrauded donors to build a wall along the nation’s southern border.
Trump has railed against Merchan on Truth Social, including last month when he called on the judge to recuse himself and cited Merchan’s daughter and her work as a political consultant for Democratic politicians.
TRUMP DEFENSE CHALLENGES JURY SELECTION IN CRIMINAL HUSH MONEY TRIAL
Judge Juan Merchan poses in his chambers, Thursday, March 14, 2024, in New York. A dozen Manhattan residents are soon to become the first Americans ever to sit in judgment of a former president charged with a crime. Jury selection is set to start Monday in former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (AP Photos)
“Judge Juan Merchan, who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whose daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals, has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial) has now issued another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional ‘order,’ as he continues to try and take away my Rights,” Trump posted on Truth Social last month after he was given a gag order limiting what he could publicly say about the case.
How will the jury be selected?
A large group of potential jurors will gather in the courtroom this week, where they will be presented with an overview of the case and asked whether they are able to serve in a fair and impartial manner.
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Those who show they cannot be impartial will be dismissed, while those who remain will be asked a series of 42 questions, which Merchan released in a letter last week, including:
- “Do you have any political, moral, intellectual, or religious beliefs or opinions which might prevent you from following the court’s instructions on the law or which might slant your approach to this case?”
- “Have you read (or listened to audio) of any of the following books or podcasts by Michael Cohen or Mark Pomerantz?”
- “Have you ever considered yourself a supporter of or belonged to any of the following: the QAnon movement; Proud Boys; Oathkeepers; Three Percenters; Boogaloo.”
- “Do you currently follow Donald Trump on any social media site or have you done so in the past?”
- “Do you have any feelings or opinions about how Mr. Trump is being treated in this case?”
Jury selection will continue until 12 New Yorkers and a handful of alternates are assigned to the panel.
Former President Donald Trump arrives for a press conference at a Manhattan court, March 25, 2024, in New York. Trump will make history as the first former president to stand trial on criminal charges when his hush-money case opens with jury selection. The case will force the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to juggle campaigning with sitting in a Manhattan courtroom for weeks to defend himself against charges involving a scheme to bury allegations of marital infidelity that arose during his first White House campaign in 2016.
What is Trump saying about the case?
Trump has railed against the “hush money” case repeatedly, including in Pennsylvania on Saturday, where he held his last scheduled campaign rally ahead of the trial officially beginning Monday.
“I will be forced to sit fully gagged. I’m not allowed to talk. They want to take away my constitutional right to talk,” Trump said in Pennsylvania, referring to the gag order that prevents him from publicly discussing potential witnesses and jurors.
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“I’m proud to do it for you,” he continued, calling the trial a “communist show trial” which he claims is orchestrated by the Biden administration. “Have a good time watching.”
Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations in the case and has pleaded not guilty to the 34 charges.
The 45th president told reporters on Friday that he will testify in the trial, which he described as a “scam” and a “witch hunt.”
“I’m testifying. I tell the truth. I mean, all I can do is tell the truth,” he said at Mar-a-Lago Friday, Fox News previously reported. “And the truth is that there’s no case.”
Will the trial be televised?
The trial will not be televised and is anticipated to last between six and eight weeks. Trump is required under New York law to be in the courtroom throughout court proceedings.
Following the protests at Union Station by anti-Israel agitators defacing federal property in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, a Park Police union is pushing back against criticism that only a few arrests were made.
Thousands of Hamas-sympathizing agitators descended on Washington, D.C., Tuesday, at one point defacing federal monuments with phrases in support of the terrorist group responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, saying, “Hamas is coming.”
Twenty-three people were arrested at the protests, but some have suggested that number should have been higher.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., posted on X, “How many more times are they going to allow leftist degenerates who support terrorism and hate America to vandalize property and attack police? There should have been hundreds of arrests today in D.C. not just 23.”
HOUSE REPUBLICANS REPLACE AMERICAN FLAGS AT UNION STATION AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS
The Columbus Memorial Fountain at Union Station during an anti-Israel protest on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington July 24, 2024. (Reuters/Seth Herald)
But the U.S. Park Police Labor Committee is pushing back.
“Our officers on the ground did everything they could to protect life and property. In fact, despite having only 29 officers available to mitigate damage — 29! — with no additional help from the Department of the Interior, we processed several arrests for charges ranging from assault on a police officer to destruction of government property,” Kenneth Spencer, chairman of the United States Park Police Fraternal Order of Police, said in a statement.
“That’s why it’s so disheartening to hear some members of Congress and members of the media, many of whom describe themselves as ‘champions’ of law enforcement, suggesting that officers gave protesters a ‘pass’ or that insufficient arrests were made.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone who truly cares to understand the problem would see that our officer staffing crisis is at the root of our agency’s mission readiness. A small unit of 29 officers arrested 10 individuals while being assaulted by a mob of thousands. We simply did not have the staffing or resources to accomplish a mass arrest operation.”
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An anti-Israel demonstrator sprays graffiti on the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain at Union Station on the day of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington July 24, 2024. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
At least one demonstrator, whose face was covered, was spotted by Fox News carrying what appeared to be the flag of the terrorist group Hamas while others were heard shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
KAMALA HARRIS REACTS TO ANTI-ISRAEL RIOTS AT DC’S UNION STATION
Anti-Israel demonstrators burn an effigy depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside Union Station on the day of Netanyahu’s address to a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington July 24, 2024. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
The White House condemned the protests Wednesday evening, calling the chaos “disgraceful.”
“Identifying with evil terrorist organizations like Hamas, burning the American flag or forcibly removing the American flag and replacing it with another is disgraceful,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a comment to Fox News Digital Wednesday evening.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the presidency has a soundtrack: Beyoncé’s “Freedom.”
The leading Democratic presidential candidate took the stage in her first visit to her Wilmington, Del. campaign headquarters and again during her first campaign rally in Wisconsin as the song played.
Now the cathartic anthem graces Harris’ first campaign ad, in which she says: “There are some people who think that we should be a country of chaos, of fear, of hate. But us? We choose something different: We choose freedom.”
Pit that against the musical number her competitor chose for his grand entrance on Night 3 of the Republican National Conference. Donald Trump walked out to James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World,” a tone-deaf choice for a former president found liable for sexual abuse, who’s bragged about sexually assaulting women, a married man who paid hush money to a porn star and a former president who rolled back women’s reproductive rights 50 years with the repeal of Roe vs. Wade.
Maybe the Godfather of Soul would have endorsed Trump’s usage of his song, but Brown would be breaking with decades’ worth of musicians who’ve decried GOP candidates playing their tracks at rallies and booster events. Adele, Rihanna, R.E.M., the Rolling Stones, Prince, Neil Young, Guns N’ Roses and Queen are among the many artists who’ve spoken out against Trump using their tunes for campaign purposes.
Heart bristled when the McCain-Palin campaign used “Barracuda.” Tom Petty insisted George W. Bush back away from “I Won’t Back Down.” Bruce Springsteen decried Ronald Reagan’s appropriation of “Born in the U.S.A.”
Beyoncé, however, gave Harris her blessing to use “Freedom,” a single from her 2016 blockbuster album “Lemonade.” The song, which features guest rapper Kendrick Lamar, is an explosive expression of empowerment. At the time of its release, it spoke to public outcry around police killings of unarmed Black men and women — Eric Garner, Tamar Rice, Freddie Gray — and protests that were largely fueled by the ire of younger generations.
Whether Beyoncé was singing about the tyranny of a cheating spouse or racial injustice (or both), the song became an anthem for a new, potentially potent block of the American electorate.
For the first time, Gen Z and millennials could now account for as many votes as baby boomers and their elders, groups that have made up a majority of the electorate for decades.
Folks under 40 have grown up with Beyoncé and her ubiquitous work. Think of Beyoncé like the Who for boomers — their work is everywhere (Republican Sen. Rand Paul played the band’s anti-war hit “Baba O’Riley” when he campaigned in 2015) — or Nirvana for Gen X, except no one cares what we think. Whatever, nevermind.
The Harris campaign’s smart choice of music coincides with a willingness to lean into a meme culture that shot up organically around the 59-year-old VP since President Biden announced Sunday that he was dropping out of the race.
Pop star Charli XCX showed her support for Harris when she tweeted “Kamala IS brat.” The British singer is referring to the TikTok and Twitter edits of Harris’ image superimposed to songs from Charli XCX’s hit album “Brat.” The avalanche of memes come from a video clip in which Harris talks about her mother’s response to the hubris of youth: “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
Right-wing social media used the quote to deride Harris as inarticulate and a “word salad” master, but liberal swaths of Gen Z have since reworked the clip into emojis and memes that celebrate Harris’ nonconformist approach. She’s become a viral sensation, in a good way, unlike J.D. Vance’s damning “single cat lady” memes and a cringey internet joke about encounters with couches.
It’s rare that relevant talent will shill for a Republican candidate. Case in point: Trump’s pop culture ambassadors at this year’s RNC were Kid Rock, Kanye’s ex Amber Rose and former WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan, whose big moment was ripping his shirt off and screaming “Let Trump mania run wild!”
Harris chose to let freedom ring, and she has Queen Bey behind her.
Politics
Texas sues Biden administration over program giving birth control to teens without parents' knowledge
Texas officials are challenging a recent order from President Biden’s administration that would allow schools to distribute birth control to teenagers without parental consent.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that his office is suing the Biden administration over their 2021 change to Title X guidelines banning parental consent requirements for birth control services.
“By attempting to force Texas healthcare providers to offer contraceptives to children without parental consent, the Biden Administration continues to prove they will do anything to implement their extremist agenda — even undermine the Constitution and violate the law,” Paxton said in a statement.
TRUMP SAYS HE ‘WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL’ OR OTHER CONTRACEPTIVES
A woman takes the next pill from a monthly pack of contraceptive pills. (Annette Riedl/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The Texas legal battle began in Dec. 2021 when US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that Title X — the federal program that provides free, confidential contraception to anyone regardless of age, income or immigration status — violates parental rights and violates state and federal laws.
The case was argued by former solicitor general of Texas Jonathan Mitchell, representing father Alex Deanda, who said he was “raising each of his daughters in accordance with Christian teaching on matters of sexuality, which requires unmarried children to practice abstinence and refrain from sexual intercourse until marriage.”
SCHUMER PLANS VOTE ON ‘CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO CONTRACEPTION’ IN BID TO PROTECT SENATE DEMOCRAT MAJORITY
Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, previously ruled that parents must be informed when birth control is provided to their children under 18 years old. (Senate Judiciary Committee via AP)
In response, the federal government updated guidelines to state that Title X projects “may not require consent of parents or guardians for the provision of services to minors, nor can any Title X project staff notify a parent or guardian before or after a minor has requested and/or received Title X family planning services.”
Paxton is now seeking a permanent injunction on this rule, which he claims defies the findings of the federal court.
Paxton and his wife Angela are pictured outside the Supreme Court. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Paxton filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Amarillo. It will likely be heard by Kacsmaryk, the same judge who previously ruled parents must be informed of birth control provided to their children.
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