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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed a document listing previous “misconducts and criminal acts” as part of his trial plan in the criminal hush-money case involving former President Donald Trump.
“On Wednesday, prosecutors gave a glimpse into their trial plan as they filed their ‘Sandoval’ notice, which discloses all ‘misconduct and criminal acts of the defendant’ which they intend to use at trial to impeach Trump’s credibility,” Newsweek reported.
Trump is on trial in New York City on felony charges regarding a 2016 payment of hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
In April of last year, Trump entered a not guilty plea to a 34-count indictment that accused him of fabricating business records concerning a hush money payment to Daniels that his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to her in an attempt to improve his chances of winning the 2016 presidential election.
The court documents state that “people will intend to inquire” about the listed criminal acts and misconducts by Trump if he chooses to testify.
The civil fraud case of New York Attorney General Letitia James and the civil defamation case of E. Jean Carroll are on the list.
Judge Arthur Engoron granted James’ lawsuit against Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and the Trump Organization a favorable ruling in February. The allegations were that the former president falsified financial statements given to banks and insurers to close deals and obtain loans, inflating the value of his properties and his net worth by billions of dollars.
According to Engoron, the former president is required to pay $454 million, which consists of approximately $100 million in interest along with $355 million in fines.
Following a ruling in January that ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million to Carroll for harming her reputation following her allegations of sexual assault in a department store dressing room during the mid-1990s, the February ruling followed that one.
Carroll received $5 million from Trump for defamation and sexual abuse last year, according to a different jury. Trump promised to appeal the jury’s $83.3 million decision, but he has denied any wrongdoing and claimed those cases were politically motivated.
Following CNN legal analyst Jeremy Saland’s statement that prosecutors “absolutely” would like to see the former president take the stand, Sandoval received his notice.
Last month, Trump said he “would have no problem testifying” in the case. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” he explained.
Trump further discussed testifying last week while speaking to reporters, telling NBC News, “Yeah, I would testify, absolutely.”
“I’m testifying. I tell the truth, I mean, all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there is no case,” Trump said.
With a 6-8 week trial duration anticipated overall, jury selection may take up to two weeks.
Six jurors have been selected to serve in the criminal trial of Donald Trump for hush money. They represent a diverse cross-section of New York City, as per their biographical information. For security reasons, their identities are being kept private. Here is a brief sketch of each juror.
ABC News noted:
Juror No. 1 is a middle-aged salesman who immigrated to the United States from Ireland. He lives in West Harlem and said he normally gets his news from the New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News and MSNBC. In his spare time, he said he enjoys doing “anything outdoorsy.”
Juror No. 2 works as an oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She lives with her fiancé and enjoys taking her dog for walks in the park. She said she gets her news from The New York Times, CNN, Google, and Facebook.
Juror 3 is a corporate attorney who moved to New York from Oregon five years ago. He has worked at two major white-shoe law firms in New York. He said he normally gets his news from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Google. In his spare time, he said he enjoys hiking and running.
Juror No. 4 said he finds the former president to be “fascinating and mysterious.” Originally from Puerto Rico, he has lived in the Lower East Side for the last 40 years. He is a self-employed IT consultant who attended one year of college and has been “married for a long time.” He normally gets his news from the Daily News, The New York Times, Google.
Juror No. 5 was the only potential juror who raised her hand when lawyers asked if they had ever heard of Trump’s other criminal cases. A life-long New Yorker, she currently works as an ELA teacher in a charter school and lives in Harlem. She normally gets her news from Google and TikTok but said that she “doesn’t really care for the news.”
Juror No. 6 is a software engineer who works for the Walt Disney Company, which is the parent company of ABC News. She grew up in New York City and lives in Chelsea with three roommates. She said she gets her news from The New York Times and TikTok. In her spare time, she said she enjoys plays, restaurants, dancing, and watching TV.
Trump, who denies any wrongdoing in the New York criminal case, has repeatedly criticized it as a politically motivated witch hunt.
