Key takeaways from opening statements in Trump’s hush money trial

It’s the case that many thought might never make it to trial, and yet at 9.30am ET on Monday 22 April, twelve jurors, six alternates, two teams of attorneys, one former president, and the world’s press were in attendance as Judge Juan Merchan called the court to order.

Opening statements got under way in the case, with prosecutors laying out an election interference scheme involving “conspiracy and cover-up” while the defence argued that no crime was committed whatsoever.

Then came the first witness in the case: the former National Enquirer boss David Pecker, who is alleged to have played a key role in the so-called “catch and kill scheme”.

Informally known as Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial, the former president faces 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of what prosecutors called a “criminal conspiracy” to bury politically compromising stories of alleged affairs ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Of the four criminal cases against the defendant and former president, it was assumed that perhaps one of the federal cases regarding the retention of classified documents or election subversion relating to the January 6 Capitol riot, or the sprawling racketeering case in Fulton County, Georgia, would make it to trial first, thereby pushing back any court date in New York.

However, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Mr Trump takes its place in the history books as the first time a former president has been put on trial for criminal charges.

Perhaps it’s because of its relative simplicity compared to the other cases.

Or perhaps it also makes sense chronologically as the New York indictment against Mr Trump was also a historic first of its kind. Further, underneath that salacious veneer of