Frustrated Trump judge sets hush money trial date as he throws out bid to dismiss case
The IndependentThe latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. With Mr Trump in attendance, New York Judge Juan Merchan held a pretrial hearing on Thursday in which he confirmed that the trial would go ahead as planned on the previously scheduled court date and rejected the former president’s attorneys’ attempts to dismiss the case altogether. Mr Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche, who appeared caught off guard by the judge’s adherence to the trial schedule, called the decision a “grave injustice”. While Mr Blanche labelled the trial schedule “election interference,” echoing claims by Mr Trump and his legal teams, New York prosecutor Matthew Colangelo noted that the former president’s attorneys had previously indicated that the March trial date would actually “minimise” disrupting his campaign schedule because there are only a handful of Republican primary contests during tthat time. Following Mr Trump’s election victory, he reimbursed his then “fixer”, who is expected to say in the upcoming trial that Mr Trump authorised his business to falsely file the payment as legal expenses.