Donald Trump on Monday called his New York hush money payments trial — the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president — an “assault on America,” but said he was still “very proud to be here.”
“This is political persecution. This is a persecution like never before. Nobody's ever seen anything like it,” Trump said before he entered a Manhattan courtroom for day 1 of jury selection in his trial. “It's a case that should have never been brought.”
The charges stem from a $130,000 payment that Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels at the end of the 2016 election to stop her from going public with an allegation that she and Trump had an affair.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. The former president has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to the charges, which he has repeatedly called politically motivated.
Jury selection is expected to take at least a few days — and potentially even a few weeks.
