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Trump trial set to kick off today in a historic first for a former president
When order is called in room 1530 of the Manhattan Criminal Court at about 9:30 ET on Monday morning, it will mark the beginning of an event never before seen in American history: a former president on trial for alleged crimes.
Flanked by his attorneys, Secret Service agents and key campaign staff, Donald Trump will be seated on the left side of the largest courtroom in the 83-year-old building, at a table where countless defendants before him have appeared.
The case is the first of four criminal prosecutions against Trump to make it to trial. He faces charges in two federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith in Washington, D.C., and Florida, and in a second state case brought by prosecutors in Georgia. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, claiming the prosecutions are part of a plot by his political opponents aimed at keeping him from retaking the White House.
Monday’s proceedings will begin with Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office arguing over some outstanding issues related to trial rules. Then, the first of more than 500 potential jurors will be escorted into the room. By that point, many will have noticed the extraordinary security apparatus outside and within the courthouse, as well as anticipated demonstrators for and against Trump. In Trump’s recent civil defamation trial just a block away, several would-be jurors appeared visibly shocked when they first saw him sitting at the defense table.
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Many will be able to see Trump and observe any of his reactions while the judge describes the case. The allegations, New York State Justice Juan Merchan is expected to say, “are, in substance, that Donald Trump falsified business records to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election.”
He’ll continue by mentioning the names of two well-known key witnesses in the case, both of whom Trump considers archnemeses: his former attorney Michael Cohen, and the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
“Specifically, it is alleged that Donald Trump made or caused false business records to hide the true nature of payments made to Michael Cohen, by characterizing them as payment for legal services rendered pursuant to a retainer agreement,” Merchan will say, according to pretrial court filings. “The [prosecutors] allege that in fact, the payments were intended to reimburse Michael Cohen for money he paid to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, in the weeks before the presidential election to prevent her from publicly revealing details about a past sexual encounter with Donald Trump.”
As a criminal defendant, Trump is required to attend proceedings each day of the trial unless he applies for a waiver. He’ll watch on Monday, and likely several more days, as his lawyers and prosecutors seek to whittle the group of potential jurors down to just 12, plus a few alternates. The two sides will then begin presenting their cases.
Trump has entered a not guilty plea to 34 counts of falsification of business records. He has accused Bragg of bringing the case for political gain.In a letter to members of Congress last year, a lawyer for Bragg hit back at that accusation, saying “were brought by citizens of New York, doing their civic duty as members of a grand jury, who found probable cause to accuse Mr. Trump of having committed crimes in New York.”
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Three Major banks and Zelle rushed to bring a peer-to-peer payment network to market without first ensuring users would be protected against “widespread” fraud, alleges a lawsuit filed on Friday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo ignored customer complaints related to Zelle, users losing hundreds of millions of dollars in scams, the regulatory agency alleges. Zelle is run by Early Warning Services, which is owned by the three banks named in the CFPB’s suit, along with four other financial institutions.
According to the CFPB, bank customers have lost more than $870 million over the seven years Zells has been in operation. Early Warning and the three banks named in the complaint hastily created the payments network to head off rival payment apps including Venmo and CashApp without adequately protecting end users, the suit alleges.
“The nation’s largest banks felt threatened by competing apps, so they rushed to put out Zelle,” Rohit Chopra, the CFPB’s director, said in a statement. “By their failing to put in place proper safeguards, Zelle became a gold mine for fraudsters, while often leaving victims to fends for themselves.”
Zelle blasted the CFPB’s accusations as “legally and factually flawed,” with a spokesperson also suggesting the timing of the suit as “driven by political factors unrelated” to the company.
JPMorgan also accused the agency of pursuing a “political agenda,” stating that the agency was “overreaching its authority by making banks accountable for criminals, even including romance scammers.”
JPMorgan Chase said it prevents nearly $20 billion in fraud attempts each year, and that 99.95% of its transactions are completed without dispute.
A spokesperson for Wells Fargo declined to comment. Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Offered by more than 2,200 banks and credit unions, Zelle has more than 143 million users in the U.S., according to the suit. Customers transferred a total of $481 billion in conducting 1.7 billion transactions during the first half of 2024, the CFPB noted.
Hundreds of thousands of customers filed fraud complaints and were denied assistance by Zelle and the three banks, according to the suit, which noted that some people were advised to contact those behind the fraud to get their money back.
Zelle “has been slow to implement anti-fraud measures, including closing accounts accused of fraud,” Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with TD Cowen Washington Research Group, said in a report, pointing to the CFPB’s allegations. “It also permitted the registration of emails that were impersonating legitimate entities, including Zelle itself.”
Since Zelle launched in 2017, according to the CFPB, JPMorgan Chase received 420,00 customer complaints involving more than $360 million; Bank of America heard from 210,000 customers with more than $290 million in fraud losses; and Wells Fargo tallied $220 million in fraud losses by 280,000 people.
In 2023 Early Warning began refunding money to an undisclosed number of fraud victims amid pressure from lawmakers. In late 2022, Sen. Elizabeth Warren issued a report that found increasing incidents of fraud and scams to be occurring on the popular payment app, with large banks typically reluctant to compensate victims, the Massachusetts Democrat said.
