Donald Trump’s New York Criminal Trial Will Start April 15

Jury choice within the prison hush cash trial of Donald Trump will start on April 15, a New York decide dominated Monday, in what would be the first prison prosecution of an ex-President in U.S. historical past.

Choose Juan M. Merchan delivered the ruling after rejecting arguments from Trump’s legal professionals to delay the trial over the late launch of greater than 100,000 pages of potential proof that federal prosecutors turned over. “Defendant has been given an affordable period of time,” the decide mentioned, as Trump sat within the courtroom.

The Manhattan trial, which considerations costs of falsifying enterprise data to cowl up a intercourse scandal with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels within the remaining weeks of the 2016 election, was initially scheduled to start on Monday however was postponed till mid-April after federal prosecutors handed over the brand new paperwork. Merchan dominated that Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg’s workplace “just isn’t at fault for the late manufacturing of paperwork from the U.S. Legal professional’s workplace” and that the case might proceed to trial subsequent month—setting a court docket date properly earlier than voters head to the polls for the November election.

Learn Extra: These Are the Key Dates in Donald Trump’s Legal Cases—and Re-Election Bid

Trump known as the case “a witch hunt” and “a hoax” as he walked into the courtroom on Monday, and later mentioned that he plans to attraction the decide’s determination to begin the trial in April. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has pleaded not responsible to all 34 counts of falsifying enterprise data to hide funds made by his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who is predicted to be the important thing witness in opposition to Trump within the trial.

“This case ought to have been introduced three and a half years in the past, they determined to attend now simply through the election, in order that I gained’t be capable to marketing campaign,” Trump mentioned. “I might be interesting.”

Learn Extra: A Guide to All of Trump’s Indictments—and Where Each Case Stands

The Manhattan trial is certainly one of 4 prison instances that Trump faces as he seeks a return to the White Home, however it’s the one one with a trial date already set. Some authorized specialists imagine the hush cash case may very well be the most likely of Trump’s four criminal cases to result in a felony conviction earlier than the November election.