1. Jury selection for Donald Trump’s hush money case set for April 15.
2. New York Supreme Court Justice denies Trump’s legal team’s request for further trial delays.
3. Trial to focus on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to Stormy Daniels hush money payment.
A Manhattan judge has scheduled jury selection for April 15 in Donald Trump’s hush money case, marking the first of four criminal trials for the GOP presidential frontrunner. At a pre-trial hearing where the Trump legal team sought a further delay, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan dismissed their efforts, leading Trump to accuse the decision of being election interference as he runs in the 2024 presidential race. Despite Trump’s complaints, the trial was postponed after federal prosecutors revealed documents to his team. Merchan ruled that this delay wasn’t the fault of the Manhattan district attorney’s office, setting the trial to proceed over approximately six weeks, starting April 15.
The trial will center around allegations that Trump falsified 34 invoices and business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. The payment, recorded as legal fees to Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen, is believed to be an illegal campaign expenditure to prevent Daniels from sharing her story of a 2006 encounter with Trump. Cohen has previously pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in connection to this payment. With jury selection set right before Passover, the judge assured jurors’ holiday concerns would be accommodated. Trump criticized the trial scheduling, calling it election interference while awaiting trial on similar charges in Georgia. The story was updated on March 25 to include these details and Trump’s reactions from the court hearing.