Donald Trump's Campaign Handed Major Loss

Former US President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on February 15, 2024. Trump will stand trial in the criminal case starting March 25, in which he is alleged to have paid “hush money” to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

A March 25 trial date has been set in Donald Trump’s “hush money” case in New York.

Justice Juan Merchan ruled Thursday morning on the former president’s motion to dismiss the criminal trial, stemming from Trump’s purported affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels and efforts to quiet a financial exchange before the 2016 presidential election.

The commencement of the trial will be the first of potentially multiple legal impediments affecting Trump’s presidential campaign, of which is he currently the GOP front runner to take on President Joe Biden in an election rematch this November.

“In substance, defendants motions to dismiss have been denied,” Merchan said in court, according to Politico’s Erica Orden.

Newsweek reached out to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, as well as Trump attorney Todd Blanche and the Trump campaign, via phone and email for comment.

“Judge Merchan’s ruling was both sound and just,” Trump’s former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, told Newsweek via email following the hearing. “The ruling was exactly as I predicted. Everyone, former presidents and citizens alike must be held accountable for their actions, even if that’s not what they want. No one is above the law and that includes Donald J. Trump.”

Cohen was a central figure leading to the indictment in this case, being sentenced to prison in December 2018 after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations and lying under oath to Congress.

Blanche said Thursday that Merchan’s decision is “a great injustice,” according to reporters present in the courtroom.

Merchan said he spoke with Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the federal trial into Trump’s alleged criminal attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and his actions leading up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. She had set March 4 as the first trial date.

“As you know there are a lot of moving parts,” Merchan said, according to the Inner City Press’ Matthew Russell Lee. “So, at this point, I can tell you we will plan for jury selection on March 25.”

That was when Blanche interjected, tying Merchan’s conversation to Chutkan and the setting of the March 25 trial date as the “injustice.”

“You can make a record if you’d like,” Merchan said.

Blanche replied: “It’s a completely different landscape now.”

Merchan expects the trial to last about six weeks, according to journalist Adam Klasfeld.

“This is Trump’s worst nightmare: a trial he cannot delay any further,” attorney Bradley Moss told Newsweek via email. “One way or the other, he is going on trial next month and a jury of his peers will decide if he committed felonies. If he is convicted, the political ramifications are potentially massive.”

“Judge Merchan told the parties almost a year ago that this was a date certain for trial,” Karen Friedman Agnifilo, former chief assistant district attorney of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, told Newsweek via email. “This should not be a surprise to anyone.”

The case was brought forward by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, charging Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records—including the ex-president allegedly paying Daniels $130,000 to keep the supposed affair clandestine. Trump has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Charges in this case go back some eight years, eventually leading to the first of four Trump indictments in 2023.

Though it was the first legal action against Trump for criminal charges, this case has been viewed by some legal analysts as the weakest charges when compared to other charges against the former president—including allegations of federal election interference in 2020, aiding to overturn electoral results in Georgia that same year, and the supposed mishandling of classified documents that were discovered at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

Update 02/15/24, 12:45 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Michael Cohen.

Related Articles

Start your unlimited Newsweek trial