New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan appeared deeply skeptical during a hearing Monday morning about claims by Donald Trump’s defense lawyers in his hush money criminal trial, and said the case would go to trial April 15.
Trump’s lawyers said a late release of more than 100,000 pages of potential evidence should delay the case significantly, and they asked that the prosecutors be sanctioned. Merchan, raising his voice at times, admonished Trump’s attorneys for making what he called very serious allegations without legal backup. He also questioned why the defense did not seek the records from federal officials sooner.
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Prosecutors argue that no more than 300 pages are significant to the Trump case, in which the former president is accused of using his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay for the silence of adult-film star Stormy Daniels about an alleged past sexual liaison.
Trump’s lawyers said a late release of more than 100,000 pages of potential evidence should delay the case significantly, and they asked that the prosecutors be sanctioned. Merchan, raising his voice at times, admonished Trump’s attorneys for making what he called very serious allegations without legal backup. He also questioned why the defense did not seek the records from federal officials sooner.
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The trial, which had been scheduled to start Monday, was pushed back until at least mid-April after the judge said lawyers needed more time to review the large number of documents turned over this month.Prosecutors argue that no more than 300 pages are significant to the Trump case, in which the former president is accused of using his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay for the silence of adult-film star Stormy Daniels about an alleged past sexual liaison.