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The hush-money criminal trial against Donald Trump began on April 15 in a lower Manhattan courtroom.
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Courtroom sketch artists captured the former president’s many moods during the trial.
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Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying company records in the landmark case.
Former President Donald Trump’s historic hush-money criminal trial officially began April 15 in a Lower Manhattan courtroom.
Video cameras are not allowed in the somber 15th-floor courtroom to broadcast the historic case.
But sketch artists and photographers alike have been able to give the public a glimpse of Trump as he faces 34 felony charges for falsifying company records.
Prosecutors allege Trump lied about the documents to cover up hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
It’s the first-ever criminal trial of a former president — and the courtroom sketch artists have already captured many of the moods of Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, during the jury selection process.
Sometimes he was sleepy, with his eyes closed for several minutes. More often than not he was caught with a frown. Every now and then he cracked a smile.
Here are some of those sketches:
On the first day of his trial, Trump took the opportunity to smile at the group of potential jurors
Before Trump entered the courtroom for the opening of the trial, he labeled the case against him as “political persecution.”
Trump’s hush money trial is expected to last six weeks and he complains it will keep him from the campaign trail
And it’s going to be a long six weeks — reporters in the courtroom noted that Trump sometimes appeared to fall asleep during the arduous jury selection process
Trump was on high alert when New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan chastised him on April 16, warning him about intimidating potential jurors
“He gestured and mumbled something… He spoke towards the juror. I will not tolerate that,” Merchan told Trump’s lead attorney, Todd Blanche.
At times, Trump had to watch as his lawyers complained about anti-Trump social media posts from potential jurors.
On April 18, two of the seven jurors involved in the trial were dismissed
Read the original article on Business Insider
