Trump's First Criminal Trial Next Month... Allegations of 'Hush Money for Sexual Misconduct'

Trump Criticizes "Election Interference"
Currently Faces 88 Charges in 4 Criminal Trials

The criminal trial related to former President Donald Trump's alleged hush money payments in a sexual misconduct scandal is set to begin next month. The trial schedule, which the Trump camp sought to postpone until after the presidential election, is expected to increase the judicial risk burden on him.

According to local media reports including The New York Times (NYT) on the 25th (local time), Judge Juan Merchan of the New York Manhattan District Court decided at a hearing attended by former President Trump that his criminal trial will start as scheduled on April 15. The request by Trump's side to delay the trial schedule was not accepted.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, former President Trump was indicted in March last year on charges of paying hush money through his personal lawyer Michael Cohen to prevent the disclosure of a past sexual relationship with porn actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election, and for falsifying related company records.

Subsequently, Trump's team requested a delay of more than 90 days or dismissal of the lawsuit, citing insufficient time to review tens of thousands of pages of evidence documents submitted late by the prosecution. However, Judge Merchan rejected the request, stating, "The defendant's side has been given a reasonable amount of time." Previously, Judge Merchan had postponed the trial date once from March 25 to April 15 to consider additional document submissions by the prosecution.

At a press conference on the day, former President Trump criticized Judge Merchan's decision and the prosecution's indictment as "election interference." He added, "I don't know how they expect me to stand trial in the middle of a campaign," and said, "This is not fair." Trump's side denies the sexual relationship with Daniels and the hush money payments. However, lawyer Michael Cohen testified in court in 2018 that he paid Daniels $130,000 under Trump's instructions, making him a key witness in the upcoming trial.

Struggling with such "judicial risks," Trump's camp is making an all-out effort to postpone the criminal trial schedules until after the November presidential election. Besides the hush money scandal, former President Trump faces trials on 88 charges across four criminal cases, including attempts to overturn the election results, interference in Georgia's election, and classified document leaks.

Regarding the case of the attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, the Supreme Court is currently hearing whether Trump is entitled to immunity. The Georgia case has not even set a trial date amid revelations of collusion among investigators. The NYT also forecasts a high possibility of postponement for the classified document leak trial scheduled for May.

Meanwhile, if the trial begins as scheduled on April 15, the media noted that former President Trump will become the first ex-president to stand before a jury as a criminal defendant.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.