Jury selection for the criminal hush money trial of Donald Trump is set to begin on April 15, as ruled by New York Judge Juan Merchan after rejecting Trump’s lawyers’ arguments to delay the trial. Trump is charged with falsifying business records in an effort to silence women who claim they had affairs with him. Merchan strongly dismissed claims of prosecutorial misconduct by Trump’s legal team. Trump has referred to the case as a witch hunt and a hoax, stating that he may not even have to go to trial due to the timing amidst a presidential election.
During the court hearing, Trump expressed willingness to testify in his defense and shared skepticism about the trial taking place during a presidential election. While this was happening, a New York appeals court reduced the amount of money Trump is required to pledge to delay a $454 million penalty in a separate civil case. Trump was facing financial consequences from New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was prepared to begin collecting the judgment. The appeals court lowered Trump’s bond to $175 million, giving him a deadline of 10 days to post the amount.
The hush money case was initially set for trial but was postponed following a request for a 30-day delay by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to allow Trump to review newly submitted documents. Trump’s lawyers sought to dismiss the indictment or delay the trial by 90 days, citing insufficient time to prepare with a large number of case documents provided late by the D.A.’s office. However, Bragg reiterated that the delay was solely due to the defendant’s procrastination. Trump faces multiple criminal and civil cases while campaigning to challenge President Joe Biden.
Trump has expressed frustration with both the civil and criminal cases he is facing, claiming not to have committed any wrongdoing. The civil case in question involves a $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to silence her about an alleged affair with Trump. The payment, made by Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, was intended to hide damaging information from voters. Cohen admitted guilt in making an illegal campaign contribution at Trump’s direction and is set to testify in the hush money trial. Trump denies any relations with Daniels and has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.
