NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 A reluctant Donald Trump returned to a New York City courtroom Thursday as his hush money trial resumed at the same time that\u00a0the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments\u00a0in Washington over whether he should be\u00a0immune from prosecution\u00a0for actions he took during his time as president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jurors will hear more witness testimony from a longtime tabloid publisher, and Trump faces a looming decision over whether he violated a gag order imposed by the judge. But he had asked to skip out on his criminal trial for the day so he could sit in on the high court\u2019s special session, where the justices will weigh whether he\u00a0can be prosecuted\u00a0over his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think the Supreme Court has a very important argument before it today,\u201d Trump said has he walked into his trial. \u201cI should be there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His request was denied by New York state Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the trial on the\u00a0hush money scheme\u00a0that was allegedly meant to prevent harmful stories about Trump from surfacing in the final days of the 2016 campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cArguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can certainly appreciate why your client would want to be there, but a trial in New York Supreme Court \u2026 is also a big deal,\u201d Merchan told Trump\u2019s lawyer Todd Blanche last week when he nixed the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though 200 miles (320 kilometers) apart \u2014 and entirely separate cases \u2014 the proceedings Thursday were jumbled together in one big legal and political puzzle that has implications not just for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee but for the American presidency writ large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In both instances, Trump is trying to get himself out of legal jeopardy as he makes 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 be answering the\u00a0never-before-asked question\u00a0of \u201cwhether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The high court\u2019s decision may not impact the New York City case, which hinges mostly on Trump\u2019s conduct as a presidential candidate in 2016 \u2014 not as a president. He\u00a0faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records\u00a0in connection with hush money payments meant to stifle embarrassing stories from surfacing. It is the first of four criminal cases against Trump to go before a jury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has maintained he is not guilty of any of the charges against him. In New York, he maintains the stories that were bought and squelched were false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is no case here. This is just a political witch hunt,\u201d he said before court in brief comments to reporters. He also criticized Biden\u2019s policies and talked about his upcoming campaign events in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The resumes after a scheduled day off with more testimony from the\u00a0Manhattan district attorney\u2019s\u00a0first witness, David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer and a longtime friend of Trump\u2019s who pledged to be his \u201ceyes and ears\u201d during his 2016 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Trump, when asked during a pre-court campaign stop what he thought of Pecker\u2019s testimony responded: \u201cDavid\u2019s been very nice, a nice guy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pecker explained to jurors earlier this week how he and the tabloid parlayed rumor-mongering into splashy stories that smeared Trump\u2019s opponents and, just as crucially, leveraged his connections to suppress seamy stories about Trump, including a porn actor\u2019s claim of an extramarital sexual encounter years earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pecker traced the origins of their relationship to a 1980s meeting at Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and said the friendship bloomed alongside the success of the real estate developer\u2019s TV show \u201cThe Apprentice\u201d and the program\u2019s subsequent celebrity version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pecker recounted how he promised then-candidate Trump that he would help suppress harmful stories and even arranged to purchase the silence of a doorman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI made the decision to purchase the story because of the potential embarrassment it had to the campaign and to Mr. Trump,\u201d Pecker said of the doorman\u2019s story that his publication later determined wasn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merchan\u00a0may also decide whether to hold Trump in contempt and fine him for what prosecutors say were violations of a gag order that barred the GOP leader from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and others connected to the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of Trump\u2019s recent online posts in question included one describing prosecution witnesses Michael Cohen, his former attorney, and Stormy Daniels, the porn actor, as \u201csleaze bags\u201d and another repeating a false claim that liberal activists had tried to infiltrate the jury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump was dismissive about the upcoming decision. When asked by reporters if he would pay the $1,000 fine for each of 10 posts, he replied, \u201cOh, I have no idea.\u201d He then said, \u201cThey\u2019ve taken my constitutional right away with a gag order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merchan criticized Blanche this week for excusing the posts as Trump simply responding to political attacks and commenting on his experience with the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen your client is violating the gag order, I expect more than one word,\u201d Merchan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A conviction by the jury in the hush money probe would not preclude Trump from becoming president again, but because it is a state case, he would not be able to pardon himself if found guilty. The charge is punishable by up to four years in prison \u2014 though it\u2019s not clear if the judge would seek to put him behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Supreme Court\u2019s arguments, meanwhile, are related to charges in federal court in Washington, where Trump has been accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. The case stems from Trump\u2019s attempts to have charges against him dismissed. Lower courts have found he cannot claim immunity for actions that, prosecutors say, illegally sought to interfere with the election results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The high court is moving faster than usual in taking up the case, though not as quickly as\u00a0special counsel Jack Smith\u00a0wanted. The court\u2019s pace has raised questions about whether there will be time to hold a trial before the November election, if the justices agree with lower courts that Trump can be prosecuted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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