Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial is now well underway with the prosecution and defence teams having presented their opening statements on Monday.
Tabloid media mogul David Pecker, who published The National Enquirer and was part of the “catch-and-kill” scheme at the heart of the case, also began giving testimony and will return to the witness stand on Tuesday.
Judge Juan Merchan will also rule today on complaints raised by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s team about numerous instances of Mr Trump allegedly violating the terms of his gag order by posting bitterly about the case and its key participants on his Truth Social platform.
The defendant continued to whine on social media on Monday evening, calling Mr Bragg “an election denier” as he otherwise looked ahead to the Supreme Court’s hearding on his presidential immunity defence against prosecution, which will take place on Thursday.
Elsewhere on the legal front, an agreement has been reached over Mr Trump’s $175m bond to appeal the civil fraud trial ruling against him and witness statements in the classified documents case have been made public.
Alex Woodward is providing live updates from the courthouse throughout the trial.