New York hearing: Trump points to other crimes in arguing he shouldn't face charges in hush money case
Before heading into the courtroom, Trump pointed to other crimes while repeating his allegations that the legal cases against him are an attempt at “election interference” amid his presidential campaign.
Trump griped that “violent crime is at an all-time high” while maintaining that he did not commit a crime in the hush money case.
“I look outside, I look at the streets. It’s so different from when I left New York. It’s so different. It’s dirty and it’s crime-ridden,” he said. “And today you walk down the street and get mugged or you get shot.”
“And they’re doing this where literally legal experts, legal scholars said they don’t understand it — there was no crime and there was no crime here at all,” he added, referring to the hush money case. “This is just a way of hurting me in the election because I’m leading by a lot.”
Trump also complained about what he called “migrant crime” and blamed President Joe Biden for it.
“Migrants are trying to beat up our police officers, they’re trying to do things that we’ve never seen before actually, we are going to have a problem with,” he said. “I call it ‘Biden migrant crime’ because you have millions of people that came into this, this place, this country that has been so badly hurt, and they’re doing things that nobody’s ever seen before,” he said. “So you have violent migrant crime, and they arrested me for doing nothing wrong.”
New York hearing: Trump's motion to dismiss is denied
Judge Merchan has begun the proceedings by denying a motion Trump made seeking to dismiss the charges.
New York hearing: Judge Merchan takes the bench
Judge Juan Merchan has taken the bench.
Georgia hearing: Judge tells witness not to watch livestreams of hearing
Judge McAfee says that witnesses should wait outside and refrain from watching livestreams.
New York hearing: Trump arrives at the courtroom
Trump entered the courtroom around 9:30 a.m.
Georgia hearing: Court is in session
Court is in session and Judge Scott McAfee is on the bench.
Georgia hearing: Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin attends hearing
Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin is also here sitting near the DA’s team. She posted an Instagram post last week in support of Willis.
Harrison Floyd, a former Trump campaign staffer who is a co-defendant in the case, walked into the courtroom and took a seat near Franklin. “I didn’t know they let supermodels in here," he said.
Georgia hearing: Nathan Wade and Fani Willis's teams arrive
David Shafer, one of Trump's co-defendants in the case, is here with his attorney, Craig Gillen. They’re sitting at the defense table alongside Ashleigh Merchant and her husband, John.
Nathan Wade and the DA’s team just showed up. Bill Cromwell, who represents another one of the defendants, is sitting in front of me and tells me the first witness is up to the judge. But the lawyers would like to call Wade first.
New York hearing: Trump has previously lashed out at a member of the prosecution team
At the prosecution table are Susan Hoffinger, Chris Conroy, Matt Colangelo, Rebecca Mangold and Josh Steinglass.
The former president has attacked Colangelo in the past because he came from the Justice Department and previously worked with Bragg.
Steinglass is a well-respected trial lawyer who was brought onto the team that tried the Trump Organization criminal tax fraud case in the fall of 2022 and has remained a part of the Trump investigations team.
New York hearing: Prosecutor involved in Harvey Weinstein case is at hearing
Prosecutor Steven Wu is sitting in the front row. He argued yesterday at the Court of Appeals in Albany, N.Y., against Harvey Weinstein who is seeking to overturn his sexual assault verdict. Weinstein remains in jail in upstate New York.