Trump’s Stormy Daniels hush money trial to start on April 15, judge rules
- Trump has pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records to hide US$130,000 payment to the porn star to silence her about alleged sexual encounter
- The date all but ensures that Donald Trump will become the first former US president to face a criminal trial
Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges tied to hush money paid to a porn star will start on April 15, a judge said on Monday, paving the way for the Republican presidential candidate to either be convicted or cleared before the November 5 election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen’s US$130,000 payment to silence adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she claims they had a decade earlier – an encounter Trump denies.
Jury selection for the case was initially scheduled to begin on Monday, but Justice Juan Merchan on March 15 delayed it for at least 30 days after Trump’s lawyers accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which brought the charges, of trying to bury documents that could help them challenge Cohen’s credibility.
The documents came from the US Attorney’s office in Manhattan, which previously investigated the payment but did not charge Trump. Cohen testified that Trump directed him to make the payment and went to prison after pleading guilty to violating campaign finance laws.
At a court hearing on Monday in a New York state court in Manhattan, Merchan appeared sceptical of Trump lawyer Todd Blanche’s argument that Bragg’s office engaged in misconduct, and questioned Blanche about why he did not request documents from the US Attorney’s office sooner.
Blanche said at the hearing that the US Attorney’s office said on Sunday that it would be handing over additional documents related to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.