A New York judge announced on Thursday that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg‘s hush-money case against former President Donald Trump will proceed to trial in March as planned.
Justice Juan Merchan began a Manhattan court hearing by denying Trump’s motion to dismiss the case and saying jury selection would begin on March 25 — a date that’s right smack in the middle of the primary election process — while predicting it would last about six weeks.
A lawyer for Trump called the decision a “grave injustice” while bemoaning “compressed and expedited schedules” across multiple legal fights that have coalesced this election season. The hearing continued with deliberations about how the trial will be conducted.
Bragg has accused Trump of trying to cover up hush-money payments, including to former adult film star Stormy Daniels, in a bid to conceal damaging information as part of a “catch-and-kill” scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Trump, who denies any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, attended the hearing in Manhattan on Thursday and spoke to reporters outside the courtroom.
The former president drew attention to violent crime in New York City while insisting “they are after me for doing nothing wrong” and Trump claimed “they want to rush it because they want to get it desperately before the election” since he is “doing well.”
Trump makes statement outside courtroom: “You have violent migrant crime and they are after me for doing nothing wrong.” pic.twitter.com/IioH9CuzYZ
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 15, 2024
Trump is competing against one remaining major rival in the contest for the GOP presidential nomination, Nikki Haley, and they have been campaigning in South Carolina ahead of the state’s GOP primary on February 24.
Around the New York trial date, states that are expected to have GOP primaries on March 19 include Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio. Louisiana is slated to have its GOP primary on March 23, while Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin are poised to have their Republican primaries on April 2.
Trump is facing three other criminal cases and civil litigation as he runs another campaign seeking a second term in the White House. He has claimed that prosecutors are engaged in a politically motivated “witch hunt” against him.
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A judge recently postponed the Washington, D.C., trial that had been set for March 4 in special counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election interference case as Trump’s claims of immunity get considered in higher courts. The May trial picked for Smith’s documents case in Florida is also expected to get pushed back.
In a separate matter on Thursday, a judge held a hearing in Georgia to consider whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from leading another 2020 election case against Trump over allegations of an improper relationship with a top prosecutor she hired.
Willis has proposed starting the trial against Trump and other people charged in the case in August.