NEW YORK — The historic hush-money trial of Donald Trump began Monday, with scores of prospective jurors crammed into a courtroom where the former president will face allegations that he fabricated business records to suppress revelations about his sex life.

The first criminal prosecution of any former US president will take place as Trump seeks to recover the White House, producing a fascinating split-screen spectacle in which the probable Republican nominee spends his days as a criminal defendant while also campaigning for government. Over the last year, he has combined both roles by portraying himself to supporters on the campaign road and social media as the object of politically motivated prosecutions intended to destroy his candidacy.

Potential Jurors Called Into Courtroom For Start Of Trump’s Historic Hush-Money Trial

After a norm-breaking presidency shadowed by years of investigations, Trump’s trial is a legal reckoning. Four indictments accuse him of crimes ranging from hoarding confidential data to attempting to overthrow an election. However, the political stakes are less obvious because a conviction would not prevent him from becoming president, and the charges, in this case, reach back years and are viewed as less serious than the conduct behind the other three indictments.

The day began with hours of pretrial arguments, including potential penalties for Trump before jury selection began Monday afternoon. The first members of the jury pool, 96 in total, were summoned to the courtroom, where the parties would select who among them would be chosen to decide the legal fate of the former, and possibly future, American president.

Trump craned his neck to glance back at the pool, talking to his lawyer as they entered the jury box.

“You are about to stand trial by jury. Judge Juan Merchan told the jurors that the jury trial system is one of the pillars of our legal system. “The name of this case is the People of the State of New York vs. Donald Trump.”

Trump’s notoriety would make selecting 12 jurors and six alternates a near-herculean task in any year, but it’s likely to be especially difficult now, as the election takes place in the heavily Democratic city where Trump grew up and rose to celebrity status decades before winning the presidency.

Merchan has said that the question is “whether the prospective juror can assure us that they will set aside any personal feelings or biases and render a decision that is based on the evidence and the law.”

Regardless of the verdict, Trump is determined to gain from the proceedings, portraying the case and his other indictments as a broad “weaponization of law enforcement” by Democratic prosecutors and authorities. He claims they are staging bogus allegations to derail his presidential campaign. He’s been criticizing judges and prosecutors for years, a pattern of attacks that persisted until Monday, when he entered court and declared, “This is political persecution.” “This is a new kind of persecution.”

Earlier Monday, the judge dismissed a defense request to disqualify himself from the case after Trump’s lawyers alleged a conflict of interest. He also stated that the prosecution could not show the jury the 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording in which Trump was caught describing sexually assaulting women without their permission. However, prosecutors will be able to interrogate witnesses about the recording made public in the last weeks of the 2016 campaign.

Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office also urged Merchan on Monday to pay Trump $3,000 for social media statements that they said breached the judge’s gag order prohibiting him from assaulting witnesses. Last week, he used his Truth Social platform to label his former lawyer, Michael Cohen and adult film actress Stormy Daniels, “two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our country dearly!”

Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, contended that Trump was only responding to the witnesses’ comments.

“It’s not like President Trump is going out and targeting people. “He is responding to these witnesses’ salacious, repeated, vehement attacks,” Blanche stated.

Merchan did not rule out the request immediately but scheduled a hearing for next week.

Potential Jurors Called Into Courtroom For Start Of Trump’s Historic Hush-Money Trial

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying company documents. Prosecutors believe the alleged fraud was part of an effort to prevent scandalous — and, Trump claims, false — tales about his personal life from surfacing during his 2016 campaign.

The allegations are based on $130,000 in payments made by Trump’s firm to Cohen. He paid that cash on Trump’s behalf a month before the election to prevent Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with the married mogul a decade ago.

Prosecutors claim the payments to Cohen were falsely recorded as legal expenses to conceal their true purpose. Trump’s lawyers claim the disbursements were legal expenditures, not a cover-up.

After decades of fielding and bringing lawsuits, the businessman-turned-politician now faces a trial that may result in up to four years in prison if convicted, while a non-jail sentence is also an option. Trump is also expected to appeal any conviction.

Trump’s lawyers lost their quest to dismiss the hush-money case and have subsequently attempted to postpone it, resulting in a frenzy of last-minute appeals court proceedings last week.

Among other things, Trump’s attorneys argue that the jury pool in largely Democratic Manhattan has been corrupted by bad news about Trump and that the case should be transferred elsewhere.

An appeals judge denied an emergency motion to delay the trial, and a group of appellate judges will consider the change-of-venue request in the coming weeks.

Manhattan prosecutors have replied that most of the publicity derives from Trump’s words and that questioning will reveal whether prospective jurors can overcome their preconceived notions. They claim there is no reason to believe that 12 fair and impartial people cannot be identified among Manhattan’s roughly 1.4 million adult citizens.

The prospective jurors will only be identified by number since the judge has ordered that their names be kept secret from everyone save prosecutors, Trump, and their legal teams. The 42 preapproved, sometimes multi-pronged queries cover the basics while reflecting the case’s individuality.

Potential Jurors Called Into Courtroom For Start Of Trump’s Historic Hush-Money Trial

“Do you have any strong opinions or firmly held beliefs about former President Donald Trump, or the fact that he is a current candidate for president, that would interfere with your ability to be a fair and impartial juror?” asks a single inquiry.

Others inquire about attendance at Trump or anti-Trump rallies, opinions on how he is being treated in the case, news sources, and other factors — including any “political, moral, intellectual, or religious beliefs or opinions” that may “slant” a prospective juror’s attitude to the case.

Based on the responses, the attorneys can request that a court remove persons “for cause” if they fulfill certain criteria for being unfit to serve or impartial. The lawyers can also use “peremptory challenges” to dismiss 10 potential jurors and two prospective alternates without explaining.

“If you strike everybody who’s either a Republican or a Democrat,” the judge noted at a February hearing, “you’re going to run out of peremptory challenges very quickly.”

SOURCE – (AP)

O.J. Simpson captured the nation’s attention for the final time Thursday.

Breaking news banners and push alerts flooded screens throughout the country, shocking millions with the news of the former public Football League star’s death, and the moment provided one final Simpson-centric collective experience for the public consciousness.

How OJ Simpson’s ‘Trial Of The Century’ Opened The Door To Trump’s Presidency

However, the impact the former Heisman Trophy-winning running back, who captivated the nation as he was prosecuted and eventually acquitted for the heinous murder of his ex-wife, had on America’s media environment will last long beyond his death.

It is reasonable to doubt if Donald Trump would have risen to political power and become president without Simpson.

On the surface, that may appear far-fetched. However, Simpson’s all-consuming trial profoundly impacted the present media environment. The media landscape was forever altered when Simpson led police on a low-speed chase along a Los Angeles freeway after being accused of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Simpson’s subsequent trial in 1995 generated tremendous public interest, with 150 million people tuning in on October 3 to witness the startling decision given live on television. The case’s exceptional attention helped launch the careers of a generation of household media stars, including Jeffrey Toobin, Nancy Grace, Greta Van Susteren, Dan Abrams, Harvey Levin, Gregg Jarrett, and countless others.

The trial was also a watershed moment in using live TV cameras in the courtroom, changing a traditionally closed-to-the-public legal process into a cultural and entertainment spectacle dubbed the Trial of the Century. Judge Lance Ito’s judgment is still relevant today, with judges frequently condemning the “circus” atmosphere produced by the trial as they consider whether to allow the public to observe similar procedures.

However, the trial’s most significant impact on American life was broader. The Simpson trial ushered in a media landscape where gory reality television and talking-head cable news predominated.

Not only did Simpson’s trial vault Robert Kardashian (and hence the entire Kardashian family) to stardom, but it was also the first major reality television show to captivate the nation, paving the way for several succeeding programs that capitalized on unscripted high drama.

How OJ Simpson’s ‘Trial Of The Century’ Opened The Door To Trump’s Presidency

Meanwhile, the wall-to-wall coverage of Simpson’s court battle, which captivated the nation, significantly increased viewing of channels such as CNN and Court TV, helping to establish cable’s reputation as a destination for live news. Before the courtroom drama, Americans relied heavily on nightly newscasts for their daily dose of news. However, the O.J. trial provided infinite courtroom drama, compelling millions to tune in before personalities such as Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw appeared on television.

In fact, according to a 1995 New York Times article, the increase in cable television viewership was so great that it lowered the audience for the three broadcast nightly news shows. Andy Lack, then-president of NBC News, claimed the impact was so strong that he was concerned about the Peacock network taking a “significant economic hit.”

The O.J. trial’s impact on television news didn’t end there. According to Michael Socolow, a media historian and University of Maine Communications and Journalism professor, the trial influenced Rupert Murdoch’s decision to create Fox News. Socolow stated that the Australian media magnate “grew enraged” after witnessing CNN founder Ted Turner “rake in” an estimated $200 million from the live broadcast of Simpson’s trial. To that end, Socolow claimed Murdoch was motivated to launch his right-wing alternative in 1996 to secure his piece of the rich pie.

It’s tough to envision Trump winning the presidency without the three-legged stool that Simpson’s trial helped erect. Is there a Trump presidency without reality TV, cable news, or, specifically, Fox News?

How OJ Simpson’s ‘Trial Of The Century’ Opened The Door To Trump’s Presidency

Trump used each of these branches of the post-Simpson media world to acquire popularity and eventually gain—and maintain—political power.

“Simpson shown that high ratings can generate big revenues from content that does not require actors, writers, or sets. Reality TV had begun earlier, but after Simpson, there was an explosion of ‘Reality TV,'” Socolow wrote in an email. “That’s how ‘The Apprentice’ gave Donald Trump a comeback in American culture, and he rode his reality TV stardom to the White House.”

SOURCE – (AP)

LAS VEGAS — O.J. Simpson, the renowned football player and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of murdering his former wife and a friend but found guilty in a separate civil trial, has died. He was 76.

Simpson died of prostate cancer on Wednesday, according to his family, who announced it on his official X account. Simpson’s attorney told TMZ on Thursday that he died in Las Vegas.

Simpson rose to fame, money, and admiration in football and show business, but his legacy was irrevocably altered by the June 1994 knife murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles.

OJ Simpson, Fallen Football Hero Acquitted Of Murder In ‘Trial Of The Century,’ Dies At 76

Live T.V. coverage of his arrest during a historic slow-speed chase signaled a precipitous fall from grace.

He appeared to transcend racial barriers as a star Trojan tailback for the powerful University of Southern California in the late 1960s, a rental car ad pitchman rushing through airports in the late 1970s, and the husband of a blond and blue-eyed high school homecoming queen in the 1980s.

“I’m not Black, I’m O.J.,” he would tell friends.

His “trial of the century” captivated the audience on live television. His case raised discussions about racism, gender, domestic violence, celebrity justice, and police wrongdoing.

A criminal court jury found him not guilty of murder in 1995, but a separate civil trial jury found him accountable for the murders in 1997 and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to Brown and Goldman’s families.

Ten years later, Simpson led five men he hardly knew into a fight with two sports memorabilia dealers in a cramped hotel room in Las Vegas, still troubled by the California wrongful death verdict. Simpson was accompanied by two men armed with firearms. A jury found Simpson guilty of armed robbery and other offenses.

He was imprisoned at the age of 61 and spent nine years in a remote northern Nevada prison, including time as a gym janitor. He was not remorseful when he was freed on parole in October 2017. The parole board heard him argue once more that he was merely seeking to recover sports memorabilia and family heirlooms stolen from him following his criminal trial in Los Angeles.

“I’ve basically spent a conflict-free life, you know,” said Simpson, whose parole expires in late 2021.

The public’s interest in Simpson remained strong. Many people questioned whether he was punished in Las Vegas after his acquittal in Los Angeles. In 2016, he was the focus of a five-part ESPN documentary and an F.X. mini-series.

“I don’t think most of America believes I did it,” Simpson told The New York Times in 1995, a week after a jury ruled he did not murder Brown and Goldman. “I’ve gotten thousands of letters and telegrams from people supporting me.”

Twelve years later, in response to widespread public outcry, Rupert Murdoch shelved a proposed book by News Corp.-owned HarperCollins in which Simpson presented his hypothetical account of the murders. It was supposed to be titled “If I Did It.”

Goldman’s family, which is currently pursuing the multimillion-dollar wrongful death claim, obtained custody of the text. They retitled the book “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.”

“It’s all blood money, and unfortunately, I had to join the jackals,” Simpson told the Associated Press at the time. He received $880,000 in advance payments for the book via a third party.

“It helped me get out of debt and secure my homestead,” he told me.

Less than two months after losing the book rights, Simpson was jailed in Las Vegas.

OJ Simpson, Fallen Football Hero Acquitted Of Murder In ‘Trial Of The Century,’ Dies At 76

David Cook, an attorney who has been pursuing the civil judgment in the Goldman case since 2008, said he spoke with Ron’s father, Fred, on Thursday about Simpson’s death. Cook refuses to reveal what Fred Goldman had said or where he was.

“He died without penance,” Cook said of Simpson. “We have yet to learn what he has, where it is, or who is in control. We shall continue from where we are.

Simpson spent nine of his 11 NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills, earning the nickname “The Juice” as part of an offensive line known as “The Electric Company.” He won four NFL rushing titles, amassed 11,236 yards, scored 76 touchdowns, and appeared in five Pro Bowls. His best season was 1973, when he rushed for 2,003 yards, becoming the first running back to reach that milestone.

“I was a part of the history of the game,” he said years later. “If I did nothing else in my life, I’d made my mark.”

Of course, Simpson went on to achieve more renown.

One of the items from his murder trial, the meticulously fitted tan suit he wore when acquitted, was later donated and displayed at the Newseum in Washington. Simpson was assured that the outfit would be at his hotel room in Las Vegas, but it wasn’t.

Orenthal James Simpson was born in San Francisco on July 9, 1947. He grew up in government-subsidized housing developments.

Following graduation from high school, he attended City College of San Francisco for a year and a half before moving to the University of Southern California for the spring 1967 semester.

He married his first wife, Marguerite Whitley, on June 24, 1967, and moved her to Los Angeles the next day to begin preparation for his first season with USC, which won the national championship that year largely due to Simpson’s contributions.

OJ Simpson, Fallen Football Hero Acquitted Of Murder In ‘Trial Of The Century,’ Dies At 76

Simpson won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. He accepted the statue on the same day as the birth of his first child, Arnelle.

He had two kids with his first wife, Jason and Aaren. One of them, Aaren, drowned as a toddler in a swimming pool accident in 1979, the same year he and Whitley divorced.

Simpson and Brown got married in 1985. They had two kids, Justin and Sydney, and divorced in 1992. Nicole Brown Simpson was found killed two years after she disappeared.

“We don’t need to go back and relive the worst day of our lives,” he told the Associated Press 25 years after the double homicide. “The topic of the moment is one I will never revisit again. My family and I have moved on to the ‘no negative zone.’ We focus on the positives.”

SOURCE – (AP)