Former President Donald Trump and his legal team derided the case as ‘election interference.’
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said on Feb. 15 that former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial would proceed with jury selection starting on March 25.
President Trump’s attorneys blasted the decision to keep the March date, complaining that Trump will have to stand trial in New York at the same time as he is attempting to sew up the Republican presidential nomination.
“It is completely election interference to say ‘you are going to sit in this courtroom in Manhattan,’” defense lawyer Todd Blanche said. “What about his rights?”
The March 25 date places the trial in the middle of the campaign season, just weeks after Super Tuesday. President Trump’s Washington trial was set to start on March 4, just a day before Super Tuesday, but was postponed because of his appeal related to presidential immunity.
Noting that he resisted defense lawyer urgings from months ago to postpone the trial, Justice Merchan said: “I’m glad I took that position because here we are; the D.C. case did not go forward.”
Just before the Feb. 15 hearing, President Trump criticized the prosecution as a form of election interference.
“Heading to yet another Courthouse in Manhattan on a case that would have never been brought if I wasn’t running for Pres. The Biden DOJ has its top person here in charge,” he wrote in a TruthSocial post.
“Case should have never been brought, there is no crime. They want it before Election. … Could have been brought 3 years ago. They waited until Election Period.”
Outside the courtroom, President Trump similarly derided the case as “election interference.”
“This is not a crime, and when you look at what’s going on outside on the streets, where violent crime is at an all-time high, I think it’s a very, very—it’s a great double standard,” he said.
“This is a real dark period for our country.”
President Trump’s legal and political schedule is already shaping up to be chaotic heading into the election.
By Sam Dorman
