A New York judge has set an April 15 trial date in Donald Trump's hush money case after rejecting the former president's request for an additional delay.
Judge Juan Merchan made the ruling Monday. It is the first of Trump's four criminal cases to go to trial.
Trial of Hush Money Case of Donald Trump Set to Start on April 15
According to the Associated Press, Judge Juan Merchan scoffed at Donald Trump's lawyers' calls to delay the case longer or dismiss it entirely due to a last-minute document dump that postponed the original Monday date.
The trial, involving allegations related to hush money paid days leading up to the 2016 election to silence a porn star about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump in 2006, had been in limbo after the former president's lawyers complained about a recent deluge of almost 200,000 pages of evidence from a previous federal probe into the matter.
Based on the Manhattan District Attorney's office's new materials, alleged "widespread misconduct" and "serious discovery violations," the defense attorneys have asked for a lengthier delay in the trial, the dismissal of the case, and limits on key testimony.
They had accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office of late production and intentionally suppressing potential evidence from them to gain an unfair advantage.
However, Merchan dismissed these claims, saying that the DA's office has no obligation to collect evidence from the federal probe or to volunteer the documents. The judge expressed frustration with Trump's lawyers, challenging them to provide a single legal precedent for his argument.
Lawyers of Donald Trump Asserts Thousands of Potentially Important Pages
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo noted that the newly provided evidence comprised around 300 relevant documents, contrary to Donald Trump's lawyers' assertions of thousands of potentially important pages.
The DA's office denied any wrongdoing, blaming Trump's lawyers for waiting until January to subpoena the records from the US attorney's office - just nine weeks before the trial's original start date. Merchan agreed and emphasized that the defense should have acted sooner if they believed they lacked essential records.
Outside court, the former president criticized the ruling, alleging "election interference" and labeling the case a "disgrace." The hearing happened on the same day a New York appeals court granted Trump temporary relief by halting the collection of a $454 million civil fraud judgment if he pays $175 million within 10 days.
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