Donald Trump in court: attempt to delay Stormy Daniels case rejected
Former president, who claims Biden ‘cheating’ is behind the prosecution, will face a criminal trial next month
Donald Trump will next month become the first former US president to face a criminal trial, after a judge rejected his legal team’s attempt to have the New York hush money case against him dismissed.
The trial for falsifying business records to pay off the adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election is expected to begin on March 25 and last six weeks, during which time a dozen state primary elections are due.
Trump, 77, the clear frontrunner in the contest to become the Republican presidential candidate, said after the hearing in New York that he would be forced to attend in the day and campaign at night.
He called the case “their way of cheating this time” – after his false claims that the 2020 election was rigged – adding that he should be in South Carolina campaigning for the Republican primary, although his appearance in the New York courtroom was not compulsory.
More than 850 miles away in Atlanta, another judge was hearing arguments from lawyers for Trump and some of his 18 co-defendants in their attempt to disqualify Fani Willis, the district attorney, who brought racketeering charges over his alleged attempt to alter the 2020 state election result.
Willis is accused of a conflict of interest because she is in a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired for the case.
Once the Manhattan hearing started, Judge Juan Merchan got to the point. “Defendant’s motions to dismiss have been denied,” he said. “We’re moving ahead to jury selection on March 25.”
Merchan issued a 30-page written judgment to support his ruling.
Despite this, Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Trump, argued as his client looked on that the case should be delayed. Blanche said Trump’s team were not ready for March 25 because they were focused on preparing for his federal criminal case for election interference, which is due to start on March 4.
However, that case has been subject to various appeals, including on whether Trump has presidential immunity, and has in effect been in abeyance since December. The judge in that case has withdrawn the March 4 start date.
After exchanges about jury selection for the latest trial, Blanche said that the trial “should not happen in this country”. The judge said that was not a legal argument and ended the hearing. Matthew Colangelo, for the prosecution, told the court that Trump used delays in each hearing “to try to evade accountability in any proceeding”.
Outside court Trump called the decision a disgrace. He said: “Everything that I’ve heard and read, even from legal scholars, said there is absolutely no case. It’s not a crime. This is not a crime. And when you look at what is going on outside on the streets, where violent crime is at an all-time high, I think it’s a very, very – it’s a great double standard.”
There is a legal argument about the type of charges brought against Trump for allegedly attempting to hide payment of dollars 130,000 to Daniels so that during the 2016 election campaign she would not publicly make her claim that Trump had extramarital sex with her. The 34 charges of falsifying business records would usually be considered a lower-level misdemeanour but have been charged as a serious felony.
“What it is election interference. It’s being run by Joe Biden, his White House,” Trump said. “They want to rush it because they want to get it desperately before the election.”
The Times
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