A New York judge rejected former President Donald Trump’s request to dismiss a hush money case against him and said jury selection will begin on April 15.
Judge Juan Merchan set the start date for Mr. Trump after a hearing on a defense request to toss the criminal case over the late handover of evidence related to a key witness, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
The judge’s decision means Mr. Trump is on course for a historic criminal trial in the heat of his presidential campaign. The case focuses on payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels and two other people during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Three other criminal matters against the presumptive GOP nominee are tangled in pre-trial matters and have been delayed.
“This is election interference, they are doing things that have never been done in this country before,” Mr. Trump said after the decision.
Defense attorneys wanted to dismiss the case or at least secure a three-month delay, though Judge Merchan was unmoved and scolded the defense for failing to point to case law that warrants their position.
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“That you don’t have a case right now is really disconcerting because the allegation that the defense makes in all of your papers is incredibly serious. Unbelievably serious,” Judge Merchan said. “You’re accusing the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the people involved in this case of prosecutorial misconduct and of trying to make me complicit in it. And you don’t have a single cite to support that position.”
Prosecutors said the new evidence, which it received from federal counterparts, did not make a material difference in the case, so the trial should proceed.
“We very much disagree,” countered defense lawyer Todd Blanche, who said the number totaled in the thousands and continues to grow.
The material hasn’t been made public. But Mr. Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing that some of it is “exculpatory and favorable to the defense,” adding that there’s information that would have aided their own investigation and consequential legal filings earlier in the case.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s deputies have insisted they “engaged in good-faith and diligent efforts to obtain relevant information” from the federal probe.
They argued in court filings that Mr. Trump’s lawyers should have spoken up earlier if they believed those efforts were lacking.
Mr. Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in the indictment secured by Mr. Bragg.
Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, alleges she had a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump years earlier, though the ex-president denies her claim. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and says the case is part of a Democratic plot to thwart his campaign.
In free-wheeling remarks, Mr. Trump railed against President Biden, the Department of Justice and agents who raided his Florida estate as part of a separate case that alleges he unlawfully stored government records after leaving office.
“This is all weaponization of DOJ and the FBI,” Mr. Trump said. “They raided my house.”
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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