Donald Trump's New York criminal hush money trial will start April 15, judge says

Former President Donald Trump's New York criminal hush money trial will start with jury selection on April 15, Judge Juan Merchan said at a hearing Monday.

The new trial date comes after Merchan wiped Trump's previous March 25 trial start date from the books earlier this month. State prosecutors consented to a delay after federal prosecutors sent Trump more than 100,000 pages of documents this month that may be relevant to the case. Merchan initially said in response that a trial wouldn't begin before mid-April.

Speaking at a brief news conference in the lobby of his building on Wall Street after the hearing, Trump said he would continue to seek a delay of the hush money trial past Election Day on Nov. 5. He also said he wants a full dismissal: “I shouldn’t have a trial."

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee faces 34 felony counts of falsifying New York business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who has said she had a sexual encounter with Trump. Trump has denied that claim.

Trump is accused of falsifying records to conceal the real purpose of reimbursement payments to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who made the initial $130,000 payment to Daniels soon before the 2016 presidential election.

Prosecution 'not at fault' for late documents, judge rules

At the hearing Monday, Merchan rejected claims from Trump's lawyers that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office should have obtained and turned over the documents earlier. The Trump team had argued the entire case should be thrown out because the prosecution "actively sought to prevent President Trump from obtaining critical materials." At least some of the documents relate to Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal tax and campaign finance crimes in 2018 and may be called by state prosecutors in the hush money case.

But Merchan determined prosecutors went "above and beyond" what they were required to do. He said the federal prosecutors' office isn't under the direction or control of Bragg's office.

Trump's team had originally said it would need at least a 90-day trial delay to review the new documents if Merchan didn't throw out the whole case. When that was rejected Monday, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked for court permission to file a motion to delay the trial based on pretrial publicity. Merchan said Blanche could file the motion but emphasized the trial is scheduled for April 15.

The 34 felony counts technically carry a maximum penalty of 136 years in prison, but legal experts say nothing near that is realistic, even if Trump were convicted on all counts.

Trump faces three other criminal cases with no firm trial date: a federal case and a state case from Georgia over whether Trump illegally attempted to steal the 2020 presidential election, and a federal case alleging Trump mishandled classified documents. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of his criminal cases.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump NY criminal hush money trial will start April 15, judge says