2024-02-15T17:03:24+00:00
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/ A New York judge has set March 25 as the date for the start of the trial of former US President Donald Trump in the case of paying money to silence a porn actress.
Judge Juan Merchan said the trial would begin when jury selection begins, adding: “There are a lot of variables,” rejecting calls from Trump’s legal team to delay the trial, which the former president has objected to, considering its timing “interference in the election.”
At the same time, his representatives attended a separate hearing in Atlanta to push for the chief prosecutor, who is accusing Trump of election fraud and extortion, to be removed from the case.
The two cases are among four criminal cases facing Trump, the favorite to win the Republican nomination for the presidency.
His legal teams are trying to postpone the actual trials until after November 5, the election date.
Upon arriving at the courthouse, Trump said the charges were “a way to hurt me in the election.”
“How can you have an election if you’re in a Manhattan courthouse all day long?” he added.
The former president faces 34 counts of falsifying accounts linked to payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors say Trump illegally concealed money transfers to his lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to make hush payments about Trump’s alleged extramarital affairs with Daniels and a Playboy model.