Donald Trump is set to stand trial in his hush-money case on 15 April – marking the first of four criminal cases against the former president to reach trial.
A New York judge ruled today that the former president will face charges related to hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, meant to cover up claims of marital infidelity, next month.
Judge Juan Merchan rejected claims of prosecutorial misconduct made by the defence during the hearing.
If the date holds, it marks the first of four criminal cases against Trump to reach trial as he mounts his campaign for US president as the presumptive Republican nominee.
Outside the courtroom, Trump complained about the ruling, characterising the case as an act of “election interference”.
It comes as a separate New York court agreed to hold off collection of his $454m (£359.3m) civil fraud judgement – if he puts up $175m (£138.5m) within 10 days.
If Trump does so, it will stop the clock on collection and prevent the state from seizing his assets while he appeals the judgement.
In a significant victory for Trump, the appeals court also halted other aspects of a judge’s ruling that had barred the former president and his sons – the family company’s executive vice presidents – from serving in corporate leadership for several years.
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