Ex-President
Hush money trial: Court rejects Trump’s hoped-for postponement
Donald Trump’s lawyers tried by all means to delay the upcoming hush money trial – so far without success
© Frank Franklin / AP / DPA
It’s a setback for Donald Trump: his criminal trial for illegally recorded hush money will not be postponed. This was decided by an appeals court. The jury will be selected starting next Monday.
No postponement in the criminal trial: Donald Trump’s lawyers are trying further applications
The criminal trial against Trump is the first against a former US president and is scheduled to begin next Monday in New York with jury selection. However, according to media reports, Trump’s lawyers are trying to delay the start of the trial with other applications, including a lawsuit against the judge in charge, Juan Merchan, before an appeals court. They should also defend themselves against the judge’s restrictions on Trump’s public statements about witnesses, jurors and judicial employees.
The 77-year-old, who wants to be re-elected to the White House for the Republicans in November, is accused in the hush money case of, among other things, falsifying business documents. The background to the case is that Trump had $130,000 in hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, shortly before his election as president. She had claimed that she had had sex with him. Trump denies an affair, but does not deny that money was flowed. Non-disclosure agreements between two parties are not illegal. However, Trump is accused of illegally recording the payments, trying to conceal them illegally and thereby trying to cover up other violations of the law. Trump has pleaded not guilty.