Trump expected to try once more to delay New York hush money trial – The Washington Post
Okay, we finally have a criminal trial date. April 15 is now officially both Tax Day and the scheduled start of Donald Trump’s state criminal trial in New York. But jot it down lightly in pencil, because here at The Trump Trials newsletter everything is subject to change — at any time.
Trump’s New York indictment, which experts have described as the weakest of the bunch, alleges that Trump falsified business records connected to a hush money payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The payment aimed to keep quiet an alleged sexual encounter years earlier, which Trump says never happened.
We are staying flexible and keeping the rest of our calendar open: The former president’s three other criminal trials still don’t have start dates.
Questions? Email us at perry.stein@washpost.com and devlin.barrett@washpost.com and check for answers in future newsletters.
Let’s get to it …
The city that never sleeps should see at least one more attempt from Trump’s lawyers to push back the New York trial, after a contentious hearing last week in which New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said jury selection would begin April 15. Merchan seemed extremely skeptical of such efforts.
Separately, Trump has until Thursday to post a $175 million bond so that he can delay enforcement of a nearly half-billion dollar civil judgment against him and his business while he appeals. An appeals court reduced the bond after Trump said he contacted more than 30 companies and could not finance the full amount.
Here’s a recap of last week’s action in the four criminal trials.
The details: 34 charges connected to a 2016 hush money payment.
Planned trial date: April 15
Last week: Merchan slammed Trump’s legal team during Monday’s hearing for making what he characterized as unfounded and serious claims against the prosecutorial team.
The trial had originally been scheduled for March 25, but at the 11th hour, prosecutors handed over some 100,000 pages of potential evidence from a past federal investigation into Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer and a key prosecution witness. Merchan delayed the trial to give Trump’s team time to review the material.
Prosecutors claimed that only a small number of pages were relevant to the case, and Merchan rejected Trump’s assertion that prosecutors acted improperly — and questioned why the defense lawyers hadn’t subpoenaed the documents earlier.
Merchan also issued a limited gag order for Trump last week, so we are bringing back the Gag-tracker. Trump is barred from publicly discussing witnesses, jurors, prosecutors and others involved in the case.
After the gag order was issued, Trump attacked Merchan’s daughter on social media because of her affiliation with a marketing firm that has worked on Democratic campaigns. The gag order did not specifically bar Trump from disparaging Merchan or his family, so that attack may not have violated the gag.
But such comments may not be allowed for long. The New York State Bar Association condemned Trump’s attacks on the judge and his daughter, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg asked Merchan to expand the gag order to bar Trump from talking about the judge’s family.
Trump is under a limited gag order in his federal election-interference case in D.C., as well, restricting him from attacking certain people involved with the case.
Contumacy: A legal term that refers to a person’s refusal to follow judges’ orders or appear in court when summoned. Someone who is contumacious could be found in contempt of court. In Bragg’s written request to expand the gag order, he asked Merchan to warn Trump that his “recent conduct is contumacious and direct him to immediately desist.”
The details: Four counts related to conspiring to obstruct the 2020 election results.
Planned trial date: Unclear.
Last week: Nothing happened, nothing at all. The pretrial proceedings are on pause until the Supreme Court rules on Trump’s claim to be immune from prosecution for conduct while he was president. Oral argument is April 25; a decision should come by June or early July.
The details: Trump faces 13 state charges for allegedly trying to undo the election results in that state. Four of his 18 co-defendants have pleaded guilty.
Planned trial date: None yet
Last week: Trump’s attorney argued in court that his challenge of the 2020 election results was protected by the First Amendment and the case against him should be dismissed. Attorney Steve Sadow said it doesn’t matter if Trump’s statements were false because they were “core value, political discourse.”
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee did not indicate what or when he would rule.
The details: Trump faces 40 federal charges over accusations that he kept top-secret government documents at Mar-a-Lago — his home and private club — and thwarted government demands to return them.
Planned trial date: Unclear
Last week: We are still stuck in a waiting game in Florida. It has been a month since Judge Aileen M. Cannon held a hearing to determine a start date in the trial. She hasn’t issued her decision on that or a handful of other outstanding pretrial motions that are keeping the case from moving forward.
Q. What happens to the Georgia election obstruction case against Trump if Fani T. Willis doesn’t win reelection as Fulton County district attorney?
A. Recent history suggests that could spell trouble for the prosecution. When Willis was elected in 2020, she inherited a high-profile case in which her predecessor had been criticized for his handling of pending charges against two White police officers in the shooting death of a Black man.
After her election, Willis said that her predecessor’s questionable conduct — he used videos from the shooting in his campaign commercials — meant she could not proceed with the prosecution. The case was transferred to another prosecutor, who reviewed the evidence and decided to drop the charges.
Whoever wins the district attorney election, and whatever that person thinks of Trump’s Georgia case, there is precedent for an election result leading to the dismissal of criminal charges, and nobody knows that better than Willis.
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Many GOP billionaires balked at Jan. 6. They’re coming back to Trump.
Manhattan DA seeks broader gag order after Trump attacks judge’s daughter