STORY: Donald Trump left a Manhattan courthouse after the first day of his historic criminal trial Monday, when the jury heard opening statements about hush money paid to a porn star.
Prosecutors said the former president broke the law and deceived voters in the 2016 election by trying to cover up sexual encounters with adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Trump's defense attorney told the jury that his client committed no crime, adding:
"There's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It's called democracy."
Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to Daniels in 2016 to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she says they had 10 years earlier.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies the encounter took place.
Prosecutors said on Monday that Trump disguised payments to his personal lawyer Michael Cohen as legal services, when in fact they were meant to reimburse him for paying off Daniels.
"Cohen is a lawyer, represented a lot of people over the years. I'm not the only one. [FLASH] That check's being paid to a lawyer. He is a lawyer, or was a lawyer. And also the things he got in trouble for were things that had nothing to do with me."
Jurors also heard briefly from the prosecution's first witness: former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who prosecutors say participated in a "catch and kill" scheme to suppress unflattering stories about Trump and help him get elected.
He is expected to return for more questioning Tuesday.
The hush money case may be the only one of Trump's four criminal prosecutions to go to trial before the Nov. 5 election.
A guilty verdict would not bar him from taking office, but it could hurt his candidacy, as Reuters/Ipsos polling shows half of independent voters and one in four Republicans say they would not vote for Trump if he is convicted of a crime.
