New York judge sets March 25 start date for Trump criminal trial

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - A historic first came out of New York today when Judge Juan Merchan set a criminal trial date for Donald Trump in a case surrounding alleged hush money payments. It is the first time a former president will face a criminal trial.

Merchan said March 25 is when Trump will stand trial as he faces 34 felony charges for allegedly sending hush money payments to suppress information that could have hurt his presidential bid in 2016.

The charges accuse Trump of falsifying business records to send the payments to squash reports of alleged extramarital affairs. Part of Thursday’s proceedings were to consider the Trump team’s motion to throw out the case which Judge Merchan denied.

This is one of four criminal trials involving the former president and, unless any scheduling changes occur, it will be the first to begin as others having to do with his alleged mishandling of classified documents and 2020 election subversion are caught up in pretrial processes.

Trump denies wrongdoing in all of his cases and continues to claim, without basis, his legal troubles stem from an effort by Democrats to interfere in the 2024 election.

“We want delays obviously. I’m running for election. How can you run for election and be sitting in a courthouse in Manhattan all day long? I’m supposed to be in South Carolina right now where other people are,” said Trump.

While he faces felony charges here in New York, this case is considered to carry the least serious consequences for the former president. Trump faces 91 charges in total spanning four state and federal indictments.

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