A New York judge ruled on Feb. 15 that former president Donald Trump’s hush-money trial is to proceed as scheduled.
“The defendant’s motions to dismiss have been denied,” Judge Juan Merchan told the courtroom. “We will move ahead with jury selection on March 25.”
The decision for the prosecution to proceed to trial goes against Trump’s defense lawyer’s request for a delay, arguing the trial would interfere with his presidential campaign.
A separate prosecution related to Trump’s alleged election interference in Washington has been delayed. It is now pending the outcome of his appeal regarding the legality of whether a former president is immune from prosecution for actions taken while in office.
“It’s a disgraceful situation,” Trump said to reporters after the hearing. “I’m going to have to sit here for months on trial… I’ll be here during the day and campaigning during the night.”
The trial concerns a case centered around circumstances involving payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump is accused of falsifying records to hide a series of payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen. The prosecutors allege that the payments were reimbursements for hush money payments to Daniels, who has alleged that she had an affair with Trump and agreed to remain quiet in exchange for $130,000 before the 2016 election.
A grand jury voted to indict Trump on March 30, 2023. He was charged with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records. Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.
“We strenuously object to what is happening in this courtroom,” said defense lawyer Todd Blanche. “The fact that we are now going to spend, President Trump is now going to spend, the next two months working on this trial instead of on the campaign trail running for president is something that should not happen in this country.”
Trump is currently in the middle of four indictments filed against him in the last year.
In Florida, Trump is accused of keeping classified documents after leaving the White House and keeping them at his Mar-a-Lago estate. He is charged with 32 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information, among other charges. The lead prosecutor is special counsel Jack Smith, and the trial is set for May 2024.
He is also accused of participating in a scheme to interfere with the transition of power to now-President Joe Biden in 2020. The indictment accuses Trump of spreading the belief that there was “fraud in the election and that he had actually won.” The trial is scheduled for March 4 in Washington, D.C.
Trump and 18 others are accused under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations of coordinating an effort to stop the proper certification of the state’s 2020 presidential election. The investigation began after a recorded phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, was released in which Trump asked him “to find 11,780 votes.” No trial date is set.
In all four cases, Trump and any co-defendants have pleaded not guilty.
