Former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial is still set to begin on April 15. This is because a New York judge turned down Trump's request to halt the proceedings on Friday, citing pre-trial press.
That is the latest failed attempt by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to stop the investigation into whether he lied about business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn star.
Judge Juan Merchan already turned down Trump's request for a stay in February, saying that the press before the trial was too overwhelming. A few weeks ago, Merchan also turned down Trump's request to delay the trial until the Supreme Court decides if Trump is immune from separate federal election interference charges as president.
As evidence, Trump turned to a private poll that showed 93% of Manhattan residents have seen news stories about at least one of the criminal probes he is facing. Additionally, Trump said that a new documentary about Stormy Daniels, an adult film star who got the hush money payment, made it harder for him to get a fair hearing.
Trump's lawyers said in a court statement that Daniels' "ongoing publicity tour relating to the documentary has included egregious efforts to prejudice the jury pool while seeking to enrich herself."
In contrast, Merchan said on Friday that a careful and thoughtful jury selection process is the best way to ease Trump's worries about pre-trial press. "Indeed, this remedy is supported by the results of Defendant's own Survey which indicates that 70% of New Yorkers could 'definitely or probably' be fair and impartial," Merchan said in his decision.
A Trump subpoena led New York federal officials to hand over more than 100,000 pages of case-related records in March. This caused Merchan to move the trial from March 25 to April 15. His lawyers had asked for at least 90 days to look over the papers, so that wait was much shorter than what Trump wanted.
Within a court document opposing Trump's request to delay his trial for publicity reasons, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said that the former president's "ongoing rhetoric is generating significant publicity, and it would be perverse to reward defendant with an adjournment based on media attention he is actively seeking."
Merchan already gave Trump a partial gag order in late March. The order was meant to protect witnesses, juries, court staff, prosecutors other than Bragg, and the families of those staff and attorneys. When Trump repeatedly attacked Merchan's daughter in posts to his millions of social media followers, saying that she runs a marketing firm that works with Democratic candidates, Merchan should step down from the case, that order was expanded to protect Merchan's and Bragg's family members.
If the criminal hearing in New York goes ahead on April 15, it will be the first of its kind to be held against a former president.
President Trump is accused of changing business records to hide the fact that he paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet before the 2016 election. Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for Trump, made the payment soon after the damning "Access Hollywood" tape came out. Federal prosecutors say Trump paid Cohen the hush money because he was afraid that Daniels' story about having a sexual encounter with the real estate mogul would hurt his campaign even more.
Later, Trump paid Cohen back for bribing Daniels, and officials say that Trump ordered the Trump Organization to keep records of the payment that were falsely labeled as funds for "legal services." Throughout the trial, Trump has always denied having an affair with Daniels. She could be a key witness against him. A criminal case in New York has Trump pleading not guilty.
That is the latest failed attempt by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to stop the investigation into whether he lied about business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn star.
Judge Juan Merchan already turned down Trump's request for a stay in February, saying that the press before the trial was too overwhelming. A few weeks ago, Merchan also turned down Trump's request to delay the trial until the Supreme Court decides if Trump is immune from separate federal election interference charges as president.
As evidence, Trump turned to a private poll that showed 93% of Manhattan residents have seen news stories about at least one of the criminal probes he is facing. Additionally, Trump said that a new documentary about Stormy Daniels, an adult film star who got the hush money payment, made it harder for him to get a fair hearing.
Trump's lawyers said in a court statement that Daniels' "ongoing publicity tour relating to the documentary has included egregious efforts to prejudice the jury pool while seeking to enrich herself."
In contrast, Merchan said on Friday that a careful and thoughtful jury selection process is the best way to ease Trump's worries about pre-trial press. "Indeed, this remedy is supported by the results of Defendant's own Survey which indicates that 70% of New Yorkers could 'definitely or probably' be fair and impartial," Merchan said in his decision.
A Trump subpoena led New York federal officials to hand over more than 100,000 pages of case-related records in March. This caused Merchan to move the trial from March 25 to April 15. His lawyers had asked for at least 90 days to look over the papers, so that wait was much shorter than what Trump wanted.
Within a court document opposing Trump's request to delay his trial for publicity reasons, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said that the former president's "ongoing rhetoric is generating significant publicity, and it would be perverse to reward defendant with an adjournment based on media attention he is actively seeking."
Merchan already gave Trump a partial gag order in late March. The order was meant to protect witnesses, juries, court staff, prosecutors other than Bragg, and the families of those staff and attorneys. When Trump repeatedly attacked Merchan's daughter in posts to his millions of social media followers, saying that she runs a marketing firm that works with Democratic candidates, Merchan should step down from the case, that order was expanded to protect Merchan's and Bragg's family members.
If the criminal hearing in New York goes ahead on April 15, it will be the first of its kind to be held against a former president.
President Trump is accused of changing business records to hide the fact that he paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet before the 2016 election. Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for Trump, made the payment soon after the damning "Access Hollywood" tape came out. Federal prosecutors say Trump paid Cohen the hush money because he was afraid that Daniels' story about having a sexual encounter with the real estate mogul would hurt his campaign even more.
Later, Trump paid Cohen back for bribing Daniels, and officials say that Trump ordered the Trump Organization to keep records of the payment that were falsely labeled as funds for "legal services." Throughout the trial, Trump has always denied having an affair with Daniels. She could be a key witness against him. A criminal case in New York has Trump pleading not guilty.
