NEW YORK — Former President Trump’s lawyers failed Thursday to delay his first criminal trial, undermining his goal to delay various charges until he has a chance to return to the White House in November’s election. Became.
A New York judge has set Trump’s hush money trial to begin with jury selection on March 25, after the judge rejected the former president’s bid to throw out the trial or delay the schedule.
In a sometimes heated hearing, Mr. Trump’s lawyers denounced the schedule, arguing that it amounted to election interference and would hamper Mr. Trump’s ability to campaign for the rest of the primary season.
Mr. Trump, who appeared calm, did not make any notable comments in the courtroom, but he did whisper to his lawyers and acted in a manner that seemed to provoke them. In the hallway outside, the former president quickly made his displeasure known to the camera.
“Instead of campaigning in South Carolina or other states, I’m stuck here. Election interference. No one in this country has ever seen anything like it. This is shameful. And it is, in fact, a shameful situation,” President Trump said as he left the courtroom.
“And we have to understand that. We’re going to be here during the day and campaign at night.”
President Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records related to repayments to his then-fixer Michael Cohen, who paid women to keep quiet about their affairs with him. Trump has denied the incident and maintained his innocence.
The case of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) is the first indictment of a former president. And now, within six weeks from now, President Trump’s first criminal trial is poised to take place.
It’s worth noting that unlike President Trump’s federal criminal case, the hush money indictment is not subject to a presidential pardon.
It’s a shocking blow for President Trump, whose proven strategy for decades has been to delay lawsuits against him. Trump’s lawyers have consistently considered delaying proceedings on all four of Trump’s criminal charges.
In some of these cases, former presidents achieved initial success.
Legal experts believe his classified documents case is likely to be delayed from its May trial date, a date has not yet been set for Trump’s Georgia election overturn trial, and in Washington, D.C. Trump’s federal election overturn trial was halted after Trump began appealing for immunity. Claim.
However, Trump’s success allowed the hush money trial to proceed as scheduled until March 25th.
That date had been scheduled months in advance, but many in the legal world believed it would be moved because U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan had scheduled Trump’s D.C. trial for the same month.
At the time, Mr. Chutcan indicated that he had been in contact with Mr. Trump’s hush money judge, Juan Melchan, about the dispute. The prosecutor’s office in the hush money case also indicated that it is willing to postpone the hush money case.
But when Marchan entered the courtroom on Thursday, he quickly made it clear that things had changed.
The Washington, D.C., trial was shelved while the fight over Trump’s immunity was settled in the Supreme Court. The judge’s decision could be issued at any time and would have a significant impact on the timing of the case.
“As you know, there are a lot of moving parts in the DC case,” Marchand said Thursday. “No one knows what will happen or when it will happen.”
After Marchand said a delay there would mean Trump’s hush money trial would proceed in the meantime, Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche urged the judge to reconsider. Things quickly became heated.
The former president appeared to be persuading his lawyer, with Mr. Branch repeatedly approaching his client and speaking in whispers.
At one point, Branch told the judge that President Trump reminded her of something, but she said she would save it until after the hearing. The lawyer then becomes furious when the judge begins to cut short and asks Blanche if she has anything else to bring forward.
“We categorically oppose what is happening in this courtroom,” Blanche began.
Blanche again pointed to Trump’s primary calendar.
“That shouldn’t happen in this country. It can’t happen,” he said.
“What is the legal claim at this point?” Marchand asked, but declared to Blanche that it was not.
Mr. Machan then called off the hearing, telling the parties, “Let’s meet on March 25th.”
Trump then left the courtroom and walked slowly down the center aisle.
As he passed in front of the last row, members of the public sitting there began clapping, but court officials quickly silenced him. This person told The Hill earlier in the day that he was also in the courtroom when the jury returned an $83 million verdict in Trump’s recent defamation trial.
Trump looked over, smiled slightly, then turned to face the camera.
Updated at 6:21 p.m.
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