Trump arrives at New York court for start of hush-money trial

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Donald Trump arrived at a New York courthouse on Monday to hear prosecutors explain why his alleged coverup of a hush money payment to a porn star during his 2016 campaign broke the law, as the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president begins.

Though Trump called for supporters to protest peacefully at courthouses "all over the Country," few were on hand to greet him when he arrived at the downtown courthouse, which was surrounded by barricades but open to the public.

"Lower Manhattan surrounding the Courthouse, where I am heading now, is completely CLOSED DOWN. SO UNFAIR!!!" he wrote on social media.

Lawyers for the Republican presidential candidate will also make their opening statement in what may be the only one of Trump's four criminal prosecutions to go to trial before his Nov. 5 election rematch with President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Prosecutors say Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier deceived voters in the waning days of Trump's 2016 campaign, when his candidacy was struggling from other revelations of sexual misbehavior.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsification of business records brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and denies having had a sexual encounter with Daniels.

The case is seen by many legal experts as the least consequential of the Trump prosecutions. A guilty verdict would not bar him from taking office, but it could hurt his candidacy.

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.

Prosecutors have said the Daniels payment