A judge refused to dismiss the charges against former President Donald Trump regarding alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
The trial begins on March 25 with jury selection:
Trump and his attorneys sought to have the case dismissed altogether, but Judge Merchan on Thursday denied the request.Before entering court, Trump blasted Bragg for rising crime in New York City, and the case.”I’m here for something, it’s not a crime, it’s election interference and it’s being run by Joe Biden’s White House,” Trump said, calling it a “terrible time for our country. A real dark period.”He added: “This is just a way of hurting me and the election because I’m leading by a lot…If I hadn’t run, they would have been extremely happy.”Trump said he should be out campaigning, instead of in court, ahead of the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24.
The Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
DA Alvin Bragg inherited the case when he came into office in 2022 but suspended it. Then, he brought it back when Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign.
It sure sounds like Trump might have a point about it being political.
Supposedly, Trump paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair. His former lawyer, Michael Cohen, said he set it up, paid it out of his pocket, and the Trump Organization paid him back as “legal expenses”:
Cohen paid Daniels personally, but was reimbursed by the Trump Organization under the guise of legal expenses – leading federal prosecutors to charge the money had been falsely accounted for.Bragg’s case hinges on the allegation that the crime of falsifying business records — bookkeeping fraud — was done in the commission of another crime, a campaign finance violation, The New York Times reported in March. The Times reported the charge would amount to a “low level” felony.If Trump is convicted of bookkeeping fraud as a felony he could face up to four years in prison.The charge usually has a five-year statute of limitations as a felony, but those are extended when a defendant continuously lives out of state, as Trump did during his presidency, the Times reported.The statute of limitations was also extended by more than a year in New York due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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