Trump loses three times in NY court this week

Donald Trump is now 0-3 in lastminute attempts to get a New York appeals court to delay his looming hush money criminal trial.

An appeals court judge yesterday swiftly rejected the latest salvo from the former United States President’s lawyers, who argued he should be on the campaign trail rather than “in a courtroom defending himself” starting next week.

Trump’s lawyers had asked the state’s mid-level appeals court to halt the case indefinitely while they fight to remove the trial judge and challenge several of his pre-trial rulings, which they argue have seriously hindered the presumptive Republican nominee’s defence.

Justice Ellen Gesmer’s ruling, after a third straight day of emergency hearings on Trump’s delay requests, was yet another loss for Trump, who has tried repeatedly to get the trial postponed. Barring further court action, the ruling clears the way for jury selection to begin next Tuesday NZT.

“It’s an incredibly important trial. It’s a historic, unprecedented proceeding,” Trump lawyer Emil Bove said.

Trump’s hush-money case is the first of his four criminal indictments slated to go to trial and would be the first criminal trial of a former President.

Trump is accused of falsifying his company’s records to hide the nature of payments to his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 campaign.

Trump had already struck out twice this week with the appeals court. One judge rejected his bid to delay the trial while he seeks to move it out of Manhattan. A different judge denied a request that the trial be delayed while Trump fights a gag order imposed on him.