By Jack Queen
(Reuters) – Donald Trump lost his bid on Monday to delay a criminal trial stemming from hush money payments paid to a porn star but won a pause in a $454 million judgment in a separate civil fraud case.
Here’s a look at what’s next for the former U.S. president in the two New York cases.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE CRIMINAL CASE?
The judge in the hush money case set an April 15 trial date, rejecting objections by Trump’s lawyers who sought a delay because of the late disclosure of documents about Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer and a key prosecution witness.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment Cohen allegedly made on Trump’s behalf to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to cover up a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump a decade earlier – an encounter Trump denies.
The ruling makes it likely there will be a verdict before the Nov. 5 U.S. election in which the Republican Trump hopes to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden in a rematch of their 2020 face-off.
The judge, Juan Merchan, also denied Trump’s long-shot bid to dismiss the 34-count felony indictment after the last-minute disclosure of new evidence, which included statements Daniels made to the FBI.
Trump is under indictment in two other cases over his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results and in a third over his handling of classified documents upon leaving office, but legal wrangling has delayed all three trials.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four criminal cases.
WHAT ABOUT THE CIVIL CASE?
Also on Monday, a mid-level state appeals court paused enforcement of Trump’s $454 million civil fraud judgment on the condition that he post a $175 million bond within 10 days, throwing him a financial lifeline as he faces a cash crunch.
The ruling, which did not address the merits of the case or indicate how the appeals court will ultimately rule, was issued hours before a deadline for Trump to post a full bond or risk having his assets seized by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the case.
Trump, who denies wrongdoing, is appealing a February judgment finding he fraudulently overstated his net worth by billions of dollars to dupe lenders and insurers. The process could take up to a year or longer, and James’ office will be unable to seize his properties in the meantime if he posts bond by the new deadline.
He had been unable to secure a bond after being rejected by 30 surety companies and facing mounting expenses from his other legal troubles. After the ruling, Trump said on social media that he would post the smaller bond before the deadline.
(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)
