In opening statements in Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial, prosecutors said Monday that the former president “orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt” the 2016 presidential election.
Defense attorneys countered, calling Trump “innocent” and saying the Manhattan district attorney’s office “should never have brought this case.”
The commencement of the proceedings set the stage for weeks of unsavory and salacious testimony about Trump’s personal life and placed his legal troubles at the center of his closely contested campaign against President Joe Biden.