Proceedings could make references to ‘Access Hollywood’

The criminal trial of Donald Trump, the nation’s 45th president and the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, started Monday with potential jurors assembling in a drab courtroom in New York City while Trump looked on.

Trump was charged in Manhattan, a deeply Democratic county and his former home, with falsifying nearly three dozen business records in an attempt to cover up a payment to a porn actor, Stormy Daniels, who has said she had a brief sexual encounter with him in 2006. Trump denies that encounter happened, and has declared his innocence, calling the charges politically motivated. He has attacked the judge, Juan M. Merchan, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, who also attended the first day of trial Monday.

Trump faces 34 felony counts and could face probation or up to four years of prison time.

Here are some takeaways from Trump’s first day on trial:

■ Merchan is no-nonsense. That hasn’t favored the defense. Merchan, a veteran New York jurist, has been consistent about batting back defense motions on issues including the tardy disclosure of documents by prosecutors and efforts to delay or even dismiss the case.

That pattern continued Monday, as Merchan rejected a defense effort to force his recusal. The defense had cited several issues, including the fact that his daughter is a Democratic political consultant.

He also ruled that prosecutors could introduce evidence regarding Trump’s involvement with coordinating publicity with The National Enquirer to aid his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump’s lawyers had described the evidence as a “sideshow,” but lost.

■ The trial is about much more than business records. Merchan’s decisions Monday made it clear that the trial will resurface unsavory events in the former president’s life.

Those include the “Access Hollywood” tape and other stories that Trump sought to suppress including an alleged affair with McDougal. Merchan said Monday that both could be discussed.

In a minor victory for the defense, the judge reaffirmed that the “Access Hollywood” tape itself could not be played, but that Trump’s exact words could be entered into the record.

■ Entering the courtroom, Trump said he was “very proud to be here.” Once he was in front of Merchan, Trump looked a lot less enthusiastic. He slouched. He scowled. He scoffed. And he was quiet, not the norm for a man who built a political career with his gift for slashing attacks and vicious put-downs.

It seems it could be an exhausting experience for Trump; at one point before lunch, he appeared to fall asleep.

■ This trial may take a while. Jury selection could take days or weeks, and the trial itself may take two months. The Passover holiday could cause delays, Merchan said, though he might make some of that up by holding hearings on court matters on Wednesdays, which was previously going to be an off day.