Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at the start of the former president's historic hush money trial. "This was a planned, long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, to help Donald Trump get elected through illegal expenditures to silence people who had something bad to say about his behavior,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said. “It was election fraud, pure and simple.” Read more: https://www.9news.com/article/news/nation-world/opening-statements-trump-criminal-trial/507-e5ee9019-050d-4163-9840-c6d0a1b0b1df ----- More local videos here: https://youtube.com/@9news Subscribe to NEXT: https://youtube.com/@Nexton9NEWS Stay connected: 9NEWS Website: https://www.9news.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ilike9news Twitter: https://twitter.com/9NEWS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/9newsdenver/ Download the 9NEWS App: https://www.9news.com/appredirect/ Sign up for the 9NEWSLETTER: https://www.9news.com/email 9NEWS (KUSA) is located in Denver, Colorado.