A New York judge on Thursday (Feb 15) denied former United States President Donald Trump’s request to dismiss criminal charges related to making hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in return for her silence on an alleged brief affair with him. The dismissal paves the way for the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president.
Judge dismisses Trump’s request
Justice Juan Merchan set a trial date of March 25 for the case, one of four criminal prosecutions that the White House hopeful faces on his list of many legal woes ahead of the upcoming presidential elections.
The 77-year-old asked a judge in Manhattan court to toss the 34-count indictment which includes charges of accounting fraud and falsifying business records to cover up the $130,000 payment to the adult film star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The Republican frontrunner has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.
The prosecutors have accused Trump of illegally covering up remittances to his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen to reimburse him for payments about the Republican frontrunner’s alleged extramarital sexual relations with Daniels and a Playboy model.
On Thursday, Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche argued that the trial date was “unconstitutional,” since his client has three additional criminal trials to deal with as well as the upcoming elections.
Blanche also went on to call it “election interference.” However, Judge Merchan quickly dismissed his arguments saying “He’s not going to be in more than one criminal trial at the same time.”
‘Politically motivated’
Ahead of the hearing in the Manhattan court, Trump reiterated his claims that the case is politically motivated and said “This is not a crime”.
“They wouldn’t have brought this except for the fact – no way – except for the fact that I’m running for president and doing well,” the former president added.
The trial is set to start before the three other criminal cases that the Republican frontrunner faces, and Trump would have effectively wrapped up the party’s nomination by that point. The former US president continues to lead the polls and has secured his win in four state nominating contests.
Cohen, who has now turned into an outspoken foe of Trump, had testified before the grand jury about making the payment and pleaded guilty in 2018.
Georgia case
While Trump was attending the hearing in the Manhattan court, his lawyers and allies on Thursday were attending a separate hearing in Atlanta, Georgia.
Several allies of the former president and Trump himself have been charged with trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the US state. They sought to disqualify the prosecutor on the case, Fani Willis, over an alleged improper relationship with a lawyer on her team.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has scheduled a two-day hearing which will focus on Trump and his co-defendants’ claims about an alleged romantic relationship between Willis and Nathan Wade, a lawyer she hired to help lead the prosecution.
(With inputs from agencies)
