Trump hush money trial live: first witness David Pecker to return to stand as prosecutors say payments were ‘election fraud’

Donald Trump ‘orchestrated criminal scheme to corrupt 2016 election’ say prosecutors in opening statements as Pecker of National Enquirer returns

Donald Trump “orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election” in his efforts to cover up an alleged affair with the adult film star Stormy Daniels, the prosecution said on Monday in its opening statement in the former president’s criminal trial.

In his opening statements, the prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told jurors that Trump invited his friend and the former publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, to a meeting at Trump Tower in summer 2015. Trump had recently thrown his hat into the ring for the 2016 Republican nomination, and Colangelo said Trump, his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen and Pecker hatched a plan to keep damaging information about Trump out of the press.

Pecker will also testify that $150,000 was way more than AMI would normally pay for this kind of story, but he discussed it with Donald Trump and he discussed it with Michael Cohen, and he agreed on the deal with the understanding what Trump would find a way to pay AMI back … The company coordinated directly with the candidate.