Trump's historic hush money trial will hear 'dynamite evidence more devastating than Michael Cohen', lawyer claims as the trial gets underway today with National Enquirer's David Pecker slated to be the first witness

An NYU law professor believes that David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, will provide 'dynamite evidence' against Donald Trump when he takes the stand on Monday morning. 

It was revealed over the weekend in a New York Times report that Pecker would be the first witness called against the ex-president during his historic trial in Manhattan over allegations he participated in a hush money scheme ahead of the 2016 election.

'Pecker could be key witness - in ways more devastating than Michael Cohen .This also indicates DA is foregrounding unlawful election influence for jurors,' Professor Ron Goodman tweeted. 

'Pecker's testimony should be strong proof of core allegation that the hush money scheme was geared toward influencing the outcome of the presidential election,' he added.   

A 12-person jury in Manhattan is set to hear opening statements from prosecutors and defense lawyers in the first of four criminal cases against the presumptive Republican nominee to reach trial.

The statements are expected to give jurors and the voting public the clearest view yet of the allegations at the heart of the case, as well as insight into Trump's expected defense.

Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial in New York is set to feature a colorful cast of witnesses

David Pecker, the publisher of tabloid newspaper the National Enquirer is expected to be the prosecution's first witness on Monday morning

An NYU law professor believes that Pecker will be able to provide even more damning testimony than Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen 

Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 by Trump's former lawyer Cohen for her silence

Twelve jurors were seated in the Trump hush money trial by the end of day three

Attorneys will also introduce a colorful cast of characters who are expected to testify about the made-for-tabloids saga, including a porn actor who says she had a sexual encounter with Trump and the lawyer who prosecutors say paid her to keep quiet about it.

Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and could face four years in prison if convicted, though it´s not clear if the judge would seek to put him behind bars. 

A conviction would not preclude Trump from becoming president again, but because it is a state case, he would not be able to attempt to pardon himself if found guilty. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

In 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that Pecker attended a meeting at Trump Tower in August 2015 where Trump asked him: 'What can you do to help my campaign?'

In the indictment, it says that Pecker agreed to help the campaign by becoming 'eyes and ears,' staying alert for any negative stories about Trump and made an agreement with Michael Cohen to purchase any negative stories and never publish them. 

Pecker will also likely be asked about his involvement with the campaign after the release of the infamous Access Hollywood tape.

In December 2016, Cohen asked Pecker to push Trump to pay him back for purchasing the Stormy Daniels story, according to the indictment. Something Trump was reluctant to do. 

Trump has denied the encounter with Daniels and said the payment was personal and was not related to the campaign

'David Pecker's likely dynamite evidence of nexus between hush money scheme and effort to influence election includes: "In the summer of 2017, the Defendant invited the AMI CEO to the White House for a dinner to thank him for his help during the campaign,'" one section of the indictment reads. 

Unfolding as Trump vies to reclaim the White House, the trial will require him to spend his days in a courtroom rather than the campaign trail. 

He will have to listen as witnesses recount salacious and potentially unflattering details about his private life.  

Trump has nonetheless sought to turn his criminal defendant status into an asset for his campaign, fundraising off his legal jeopardy and repeatedly railing against a justice system that he has for years claimed is weaponized against him.

Hearing the case is a jury that includes, among others, multiple lawyers, a sales professional, an investment banker and an English teacher.

The case will test jurors' ability to set aside any bias but also Trump's ability to abide by the court's restrictions, such as a gag order that bars him from attacking witnesses. Prosecutors are seeking fines against him for alleged violations of that order.

Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of the payments made to Stormy Daniels in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.

Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.

To convict Trump of a felony, prosecutors must show he not only falsified or caused business records to be entered falsely, which would be a misdemeanor, but that he did so to conceal another crime.

The allegations don't accuse Trump of an egregious abuse of power like the federal case in Washington charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, or of flouting national security protocols like the federal case in Florida charging him with hoarding classified documents.

But the New York prosecution has taken on added importance because it may be the only one of the four cases against Trump that reaches trial before the November election. Appeals and legal wrangling have delayed the other three cases.