A judge has set April 15 as the trial date for one of former President Donald Trump‘s criminal cases, starting with the jury selection process. The development follows an eventful Monday for Trump, marked by a court appearance concerning hush money allegations and an appeals court decision regarding money owed in a civil fraud suit.
What Happened: The trial date, set by Judge Juan Merchan, could position the trial ahead of the 2024 presidential election, in which Trump is a leading candidate. Merchan’s decision came after Trump’s legal team attempted to have the case dismissed during a Monday hearing, a move reported by CNN.
This is part of the ongoing legal challenges facing Trump, whose schedule is increasingly packed with indictments and federal charges.
Merchan said that Trump's attorneys can file a motion related to pretrial publicity. The judge is giving the district attorney's office one week to respond. The motion could delay the trial.
"In the meantime, the scheduled trial date is April 15," Merchan said.
The judge indicated that the trial will not take place on any day that a juror is unable to attend due to religious observance, with Passover being near the trial start date. Merchan also said he could adjourn the trial for the start of Passover.
The date was previously pushed back from March to mid-April due to new evidence that was turned over by the district attorney's office related to key witness and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
Merchan concluded that the delay in document turnover was not due to any fault on the part of the district attorney’s office.
Trump told reporters Monday that the hush money trial is being rushed and is a "pure case of voter intimidation and election interference."
"This was a case that could have been brought three-and-a-half years ago and they decided to wait now, just during the election, so that I won't be able to campaign," Trump said after Monday’s hearing to set the trial date.
Related Link: Donald Trump Won’t Like Release Date Of Stormy Daniels Documentary: Where, When To Watch
Why It's Important: This marks the only criminal case against the former president set to begin ahead of the November general election according to the report. Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to an alleged payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Cohen has testified that he made payments to Daniels.
While Trump lost his plea to have the hush money trial dismissed, the former president did get a small victory in the form of a financial lifeline.
Ahead of a Monday deadline to come up with $455 million to pay a penalty for his civil fraud trial, a New York appeals court delayed the deadline by 10 days and lowered the amount for a bond payment to $175 million.
While Monday's appeals ruling related to Trump's financial penalty was a win and keeps his assets from getting seized, New York Attorney General Letitia James reminded Trump that the court ruled against him.
"Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud. The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization," a spokesperson for James said. "The $464 million judgment – plus interest – against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands."
Outside of the legal events of the week, Trump is also set for a busy week related to the stock market. Trump's media company Trump Media & Technology Group DJT is set to make its public debut Tuesday after a long awaited merger with SPAC Digital World Acquisition Corporation DWAC was approved Friday.
Trump will own 80 million shares in the newly formed company and faces lock-ups that could be changed by the company's board of directors. Trump is also subject to unlocking additional shares based on milestones for the stock in the coming months.
DWAC Price Action: Digital World Acquisition shares are up 31% to $48.30 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $12.40 to $58.72.
Read Next: Trump SPAC Merger Approved, Set For Imminent Public Debut: The Profits Some Investors Missed
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