Tuesday Briefing: The Trump trial opens
Good morning. We’re covering opening statements in Donald Trump’s criminal trial and the resignation of Israel’s military intelligence chief. Plus, is online shopping bad for the planet?
Prosecutors began laying out their case against TrumpIn an opening statement, the prosecution gave a sweeping synopsis of the case against Donald Trump — a pivotal moment in the first criminal prosecution of a former American president. A Manhattan prosecutor told the 12 jurors that the case was about “a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up” of sex scandals that threatened his 2016 election win. He described how Trump, his counsel Michael Cohen, and David Pecker, the publisher of The National Enquirer tabloid, engaged in a strategy to “catch and kill” negative stories. Trump, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, watched from the defense table. Occasionally, he shook his head. In his opening statement, Trump’s lawyer insisted that his client had done nothing wrong. “President Trump is innocent,” he told the jury. Then, Pecker was called to the stand as the first witness in the trial. In his testimony, Pecker explained how The National Enquirer paid for stories, a practice he called “checkbook journalism.” He is expected to return to the stand today. Background: The case centers on a $130,000 payment that Cohen made to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, to buy her silence as the 2016 campaign was winding down. Prosecutors say he was reimbursed by Trump, who falsified business records to conceal his conduct. For more: Sign up for Trump on Trial, our newsletter that tracks the various cases.
The head of Israeli intelligence resignedMaj. Gen. Aharon Haliva yesterday became the highest-ranking Israeli official to step down since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Haliva, the head of military intelligence, had emerged as a symbol of the Israeli establishment’s failure to prevent the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. His resignation suggests that a bitter reckoning about the failures is gaining momentum in Israel, now that the pace of the war in Gaza has ebbed. Although Haliva’s resignation was long expected, it is still expected to heighten pressure on other senior figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to take greater responsibility for their role in the October failure.
Modi insulted India’s MuslimsDuring a campaign event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Muslims “infiltrators” who would take India’s wealth if his opponents were to gain power. His statement was unusually divisive and direct. Modi was referring to a remark once made by Manmohan Singh, his predecessor from the opposition Indian National Congress Party. Singh, Modi claimed, had “said that Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators.” Modi’s use of such language as he campaigns for a third term raised alarms that it could inflame right-wing vigilantes who target Muslims. |
