Court clerk: "This is the people of the state of New York vs Donald J. Trump" (2024)

A court clerk opened the proceedings by saying, "This is the people of the state of New York vs Donald J. Trump."

Judge Juan Merchan has entered the coutroom and the trial is underway.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys will vet prospective jurors to select a jury of 12, along with six alternates.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg just walked into the courtroom.

Donald Trump is seated between his attorneys, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove.

New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchanhas not arrived in the room yet.

Before stepping into a New York courtroom for the historic start of his first criminal trial, former President Donald Trump spoke briefly to reporters and slammed the criminal case.

“Every legal scholar said this this case is nonsense, it should never have been brought,” Trump said.

Facts First:These comments aren’t accurate. While even some left-leaning legal experts have panned this case, there are plenty of scholars who believe this is a serious and legitimate prosecution.

Read more CNN fact checksabout the New York case here.

Trump entered into a mostly empty courtroom just after 9:30 a.m. ET.

He walked in behind lawyer Todd Blanche, according to pool reports, paused for a split second and then began walking up the courtroom's center aisle, past nine rows of wooden benches to either side, all empty and soon to be filled with jury prospects.

Trump was hunch-shouldered but chin up, and his expression was stern.

Inside the courtroom, Trump chatted with Blanche, who pointed out something on a document to Trump. He was smiling during an active back and forth with Blanche.

Former President Donald Trump spoke briefly to reporters ahead of entering the courtroom.

Trump claimed the trial is a "persecution," adding that it "is an assault on America."

"Nobody has ever seen anything like it," he said.

Prosecutors Susan Hoffinger, Joshua Steinglass and Matthew Colangelo have arrived in the courtroom.

Approximately a dozen prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office are in the courtroom. District Attorney Alvin Bragg is not here yet.

Remember: Prosecutors need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that former President Donald Trump falsified business records with the intent to commit or conceal another crime, but they don’t have to prove that Trump committed that crime.

The prosecution theory is that second crime couldbe in violation offederal and state election laws or state tax laws for how Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen's reimbursem*nt was handled.

Former President Donald Trump was first indicted in March 2023 by the Manhattan district attorney on state charges related to a hush money payment to an adult film star in 2016.

Now the case is going to trial. Catch up on the key people in the case below:

Former President Donald Trump's motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse where jury selection will begin for his hush money criminal trial.

He's the first former president to go on trial forcriminal charges.

How jury selection will unfold: Court officials expect about 500 new jurors to appear each day beginning Monday to be available for the selection process, though some of those people will also be pulled to other cases in the court system.

As in any state criminal court case in the county, the pool will be limited to people who live in Manhattan. About 100 prospective jurors at a time will be brought into Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom to be vetted.

Twelve jurors will make up the panel that will ultimately consider the 34 counts of falsifying business records against Trump. Six alternates will also hear the case in case a juror on the main panel needs to be replaced.