Insights from inside Donald Trump’s trial
Janet Malcolm once said that every trial is a battle of two narratives, and this has been evident in Donald Trump’s recent trial in a Manhattan courtroom. One narrative is captivating, while the other is tedious.
The gripping part of the trial revolves around storytelling. Who can present the story better: the prosecutors or the defense? The allegations against Trump may seem trivial, focusing on whether he manipulated business records to hide a payment to a porn star to keep quiet about a past affair. To spice up their case, prosecutors argue that it’s really about “election fraud”, as the payment occurred just before the 2016 presidential election, potentially misleading voters. Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, dismissed this as a mere attempt to sway an election, which he deemed a democratic process.
The trial kicked off with testimony from David Pecker, a former tabloid publisher and Trump’s ally who facilitated the payment. Pecker admitted to buying stories during the campaign to protect Trump from negative publicity, labeling it as “chequebook journalism”, leaving journalists in the courtroom raising their eyebrows.
2024-04-25 08:57:43
Originally posted on www.economist.com