(USNewsBreak.com) – Former President Donald Trump has a full calendar these days. He’s campaigning to secure the Republican nomination, and eventually, he presumes, the presidency, and he’s fighting several legal battles. One of those is a hush-money case in which prosecutors have accused him of altering business records to pay off Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an affair the two allegedly had. He recently tried to have the case dismissed, but a judge ruled against him.
Trump’s argument for dismissing or delaying the case, scheduled to begin on March 25, was that it would interfere with his campaigning. Judge Juan Merchan wasn’t having it and denied the motion on Thursday, February 15, saying the trial would go forward as scheduled.
The former president spoke to the media after the ruling, saying, “We’ll just have to figure it out,” noting that he plans to be present for the entire trial and will “be campaigning during the night.” Trump also took the opportunity to criticize the case, saying he is “honored” to sit during the trial “on something that everybody says the greatest legal scholars say it’s (sic) not even a crime.”
Trump’s attorney tried one last-ditch effort to delay the case, but Judge Merchan said the lawyer hadn’t attached any legal argument and noted the trial’s start date again. The parties also went over the jury selection during this hearing.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed charges against Trump, claiming he falsified business records to hide hush-money payments made to Michael Cohen, who then paid off Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal prior to the 2016 election. Trump’s attorneys dispute the allegation and say he made the payments to Cohen from his personal accounts. The former president has faced rumors of having extramarital affairs for years.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him and denies any wrongdoing.
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