President Trump is seeing the balances on his legal defense fund dwindling at possibly the worst time, with his hush-money trial set to kick off at Manhattan Monday and his lawyers arguing at the Supreme Court later this week that Jack Smith’s prosecution of the president should be summarily tossed out. 

Opening statements in the criminal hush money case are set to begin on Monday following the selection of 12 jurors and their alternates by Mr. Trump’s defense and Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg. The presiding jurist, Judge Juan Merchan, will also hear arguments this week about whether or not Mr. Trump violated the tailored gag order that Judge Merchan himself imposed. 

One of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, Will Scharf, tells Fox News that their strategy is to “focus on the facts” that are “exonerative” of charges that have been levied. “This case obviously should’ve never been brought,” he said. “There are a lot of aspects of this case that are highly, highly irregular.”

“We’re seeing prosecutors who are hell-bent on interfering with the 2024 election, bringing these unprecedented legal theories against President Trump all because of what he’s doing — because he’s running for president.,” Mr. Scarf continues. “It’s an outrageous abuse of the legal system.”

Mr. Trump’s lead attorney, Todd Blanche, and his colleagues are expected to offer their opening statements to the jury on Monday. 

On Tuesday, Judge Merchan will hear arguments from the prosecution on the question of whether or not Mr. Trump violated a gag order which bars the former president from criticizing would-be witnesses, court staff, and line prosecutors, though does allow him to attack Judge Merchan and Mr. Bragg. 

Prosecutors say a number of posts made on Truth Social by Mr. Trump constitute violations of the order. One post refers to Mr. Trump’s former lawyer who facilitated the hush money payment, Michael Cohen, as a serial liar. Another was a reposted video from a conservative activist that criticized Judge Merchan’s wife. 

Prosecutors are asking for a $1,000 per post fine, and that Mr. Trump be forced to take the posts on Truth Social down. 

Following that hearing, the prosecution is expected to call their first witness — the chief executive of American Media, Inc., David Pecker, who was involved in a number of “catch and kill” schemes to bury negative stories about Mr. Trump in the weeks ahead of the 2016 election.

Mr. Pecker allegedly used $30,000 of his company’s money to pay off a Trump Tower doorman who was going to tell reporters about a purported illegitimate child Mr. Trump had with a mistress. Mr. Pecker also allegedly paid $150,000 to a former Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who claims she had an affair with Mr. Trump.

A challenge that compounds Mr. Trump’s legal and political peril is the fact that his legal defense fund is running out of money. According to Bloomberg, Mr. Trump spent nearly $5 million on legal fees in March alone, and now only has $6.8 million left for his defense in four separate criminal cases against him. 

Even as the criminal trial kicks off, another set of attorneys for Mr. Trump will be before the Supreme Court at the District of Columbia, asking that the special counsel prosecution of the former president be summarily tossed out because he cannot be tried for official acts.

The nine will hear arguments in Trump v. United States on Thursday in their final arguments of the term. 

Mr. Trump says that by not accepting his broad definition of presidential immunity, the government has now opened President Biden himself to prosecution after he leaves office. The former president describes it as “a giant Pandora’s Box” that has been opened. 

“Of course I was entitled, as President of the United States and Commander in Chief, to Immunity. I wasn’t campaigning, the Election was long over,” Mr. Trump writes on Truth Social ahead of his arguments before the justices. “I was looking for voter fraud, and finding it, which is my obligation to do, and otherwise running our Country.

“If I don’t get Immunity, then Crooked Joe Biden doesn’t get Immunity, and with the Border Invasion and Afghanistan Surrender, alone, not to mention the Millions of dollars that went into his ‘pockets’ with money from foreign countries, Joe would be ripe for Indictment,” Mr. Trump warns.