First criminal trial for Trump scheduled

N.Y. hush money case seen as least perilous of 4 ex-president faces

NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s hush money trial will go ahead as scheduled with jury selection starting March 25, a New York judge ruled Thursday, turning aside demands for delay from the former president’s defense lawyers, who argued it would interfere with his campaign to retake the White House.

The decision means the first of Trump’s four criminal prosecutions to proceed to trial is a case centered on years-old accusations he sought to bury stories about extramarital affairs that arose during his 2016 presidential run. Other cases charge him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate.

In leaving the trial date intact,

Judge Juan Manuel Merchan pointed to the recent delay in the separate prosecution in Washington, D.C., related to efforts to undo the election. That case, originally set for trial March 4, has been effectively frozen pending the outcome of Trump’s appeal on the legally untested question of whether a former president enjoys immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office.

The New York case has long been considered the least legally perilous of the four indictments filed against Trump last year, with the alleged misconduct seen by many as less grave than accusations of mishandling classified documents or plotting to subvert a presidential election.

The hush money trial is expected to last six weeks, Merchan said. Noting he had resisted defense lawyer urgings from months ago to postpone the trial, Merchan said: “I’m glad I took that position because here we are — the D.C. case did not go forward.”