Donald Trump returned to the Manhattan courthouse on Thursday, where his attempts to dismiss charges of covering up hush money payments were rejected, setting the stage for the first criminal trial of a former US president set to begin on the 25th. of March.
At the same time, their representatives attended a separate hearing in Atlanta, pushing to have the lead prosecutor bringing election fraud and racketeering charges against Trump disqualified from the case.
They are two of four criminal cases the Republican front-runner is facing as he campaigns to retake the White House, and his legal teams are seeking to postpone the trials until after the Nov. 5 vote.
Trump, who has used media attention on his legal problems to rally his supporters and denounce his Democratic opponent Joe Biden, reiterated his claim that the charges were “just a way to hurt me in the election.”
“How can you run for election if you’re sitting in a Manhattan courtroom all day?” he said upon arriving at the courthouse.
Once the hearing began, Judge Juan Merchán rejected Trump’s request for a delay and ruled that jury selection would begin as scheduled in late March.
The former president faces 34 counts of accounting fraud linked to payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors say Trump illegally concealed remittances to his longtime lawyer and assistant, Michael Cohen, to reimburse him for payments intended to bury stories about Trump’s alleged extramarital sexual relations with Daniels and a Playboy model.
Legal roller coaster
Trump’s lawyers will also represent him in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is charged with conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost to Biden.
That hearing seeks to have District Attorney Fani Willis removed from the case over an alleged relationship with another prosecutor.
Trump’s legal rollercoaster could continue on Friday if, as US media have reported, a ruling is issued in his civil fraud trial, in which he is accused of grossly inflating the value of his properties.
In that case, you risk having to pay up to $370 million and face a ban on doing business in New York state.
And he also faces another possible trial for conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election in Washington.
Trump has used the numerous legal cases to fuel his claims of being a victim as he campaigns to return to the White House.
The secret money case dates back to the final days of the 2016 election, when Trump was on the verge of his surprising victory as a political outsider against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
A New York grand jury indicted Trump in March 2023 over payments made to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Prosecutors say the money was paid to silence Daniels over allegations that she went on a date with Trump in 2006, a year after he married Melania Trump.
At the end of the campaign, Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels in exchange for her promise of confidentiality.
Trump rejoiced for years in his playboy reputation, but denied the affair with Daniels, which would have occurred just after Melania, his third wife, gave birth.
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