(New York) The judge in the criminal trial alleging that former President Donald Trump bought the silence of a porn actress on Friday rejected the former president’s request to postpone his trial due to publicity surrounding the case.
It’s the latest in a series of postponement denials that Trump has received from various courts this week, as he fights to prevent a trial, scheduled for Monday, from beginning with jury selection.
Among other things, Trump’s lawyers had argued that prospective jury members were inundated with what the defense considers “exceptionally damaging” media coverage of the case.
The defense argued that was reason enough to stay the case indefinitely.
Judge Juan Merchan wrote that Trump “appears to view his situation and this case as unique and that pretrial publicity will never diminish” and that “this view does not correspond to reality.”
Referring to Trump’s two defamation lawsuits and a civil fraud trial in Manhattan over the past year, Mr.e Merchan wrote that the ex-president himself “was personally responsible for generating much, if not most, of the surrounding publicity with his public statements” outside courtrooms and on social networks.
“The situation in which the accused currently finds himself is not new to him and, at least in part, it is his fault,” added the judge. He said questioning potential jury members would address any concerns about their ability to be fair and impartial.
Messages seeking comment were left with Trump’s lawyers. The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment.
Trump, meanwhile, said Friday that he planned to testify at the trial, calling the case a “scam.”
“All I can do is tell the truth,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. And the truth is that they have no argument. »
Asked about jury selection, Trump said the process was “all about luck.”
It depends on who you get. It’s very unfair that I’m being judged there. It’s very unfair to have this judge who hates Trump and is in huge conflict.
Donald Trump
In a court filing last month, Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, argued that “potential jury members in Manhattan were exposed to enormous biased and unfair media coverage regarding this case.”
“Many potential jury members already wrongly believe that President Trump is guilty,” Ms.e Blanche, citing review of news articles and other research the defense has conducted.
According to Me Blanche’s analysis reveals that 1,223 articles about the affair were published online between mid-January and the end of February and that many of them “unfairly and unduly demonized” Donald Trump. However, a table included in the defense arguments included numerous mentions of terms relevant to the case, such as 207 references to the “Manhattan trial” and 142 to “cover-up payments.”
Trump’s lawyers also accused the prosecution’s key witnesses, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, of leading negative coverage of Trump. They pointed to Michael Cohen’s harsh criticism of Donald Trump on his podcasts and social media, as well as the publicity surrounding the release of a documentary about Stormy Daniels, which premiered last month on the NBC Peacock streaming platform.
Prosecutors argued that the publicity was unlikely to slow down and that Trump’s own comments generated much of it. Prosecutors also noted that there were more than a million people in Manhattan, arguing that jury questioning could surely find 12, along with six alternates, who could be impartial.
Business reminder
This case of secret payments that Trump allegedly made could be the first of four criminal trials of Trump to open, a first for a former American president.
This case centers on allegations that Mr. Trump falsified his company records to hide the true nature of payments made to Mr.e Cohen, who paid $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence the Republican candidate’s allegations of an extramarital sexual relationship years earlier.
Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 counts of falsifying business records and denied having a sexual relationship with Mr.me Daniels. His lawyers claim that the payments made to Me Cohen’s charges were legitimate legal fees and were not part of any cover-up.
Trump’s lawyers made other, sometimes similar, arguments this week for a delay to an appeals court. One of these appeals sought to stay the trial until the appeals court could fully consider the defense’s argument that the trial should be moved elsewhere on the grounds that the jury had been manipulated by media coverage of other recent Trump affairs.
Trump’s lawyers also argue that the Republican candidate faces “real potential bias” in the heavily Democratic state of Manhattan.
All appeals this week were rejected by appeals judges, although the cases will be sent back to a panel of appeals judges for further review.