A New York judge has set the start date for former US President Donald Trump’s hush money trial to April 15, marking the beginning of his first criminal trial this spring after a recent delay, as per The Hill’s report.
Trump, who aimed to postpone all four of his criminal cases until after the election, sought to have his case dismissed due to newly disclosed documents or requested sanctions against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) to postpone the trial. However, during a hearing on Monday, Judge Juan Merchan dismissed these requests and sided with Bragg, declining to extend the trial into the campaign season and scheduling jury selection for April 15.
Merchan stated, “The court finds that the people have complied and continue to comply with their discovery obligations.”
Though Trump’s trial was initially slated to start on Monday, Bragg’s office agreed to a multi-week delay at the last minute. This follows the recent turnover of over 100,000 pages of records by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The parties engaged in a blame game regarding the delayed disclosure of documents, resulting in the trial’s postponement to address the issue.
Trump attended the hearing with about six of his lawyers, maintaining a stoic demeanor and occasionally whispering to them. He reiterated his belief that Bragg’s case aimed to hinder his campaign efforts for the upcoming presidential elections in November.
“This is a case that could have been brought three and a half years ago, and now they’re fighting over days because they want to try to do it during the election. This is election interference. That’s all that is. Election interference,” Trump stated after the hearing.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to reimbursements to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 just before the 2016 election to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. Trump has admitted to the reimbursements but denied the affair, pleading not guilty.
However, disagreements arose between Trump’s team and prosecutors regarding the number and relevance of newly disclosed documents. Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche claimed there were “thousands and thousands” of relevant records, while Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo estimated only about 300 new relevant records. Blanche argued that Bragg’s office was obligated to disclose the documents earlier to allow Trump adequate time to prepare his defense.
In response, Merchan expressed frustration with Blanche’s claims, emphasizing the seriousness of the allegations and pressing for evidence supporting accusations of prosecutorial misconduct.