Criminal trial for alleged hush money payments will take place during the Republican presidential primaries season.
A judge in Manhattan has scheduled the criminal trial of former US President Donald Trump to begin next March, when the Republican Party’s presidential primary is in full swing.
Trump, a candidate in the 2024 presidential race, appeared via video in a New York courtroom on Tuesday as part of an ongoing criminal case over alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Judge Juan Merchan had tentatively scheduled his trial for March 25, 2024, a date that seemed to frustrate the Republican leader, who threw up his hands.
In April, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Tuesday’s hearing was also an opportunity for Judge Merchan to advise Trump on restrictions surrounding the upcoming trial.
When Mercan asked Tuesday if Trump had a copy of an order prohibiting him from disclosing certain evidence to third parties, the former president replied, “Yes.”
The judge’s order allows Trump to speak publicly about the criminal case, but it prohibits him from using evidence handed over by prosecutors during the discovery process to attack witnesses or anyone else involved in the trial.
The order also prohibits Trump from posting trial evidence on social media. Under the restrictions, some of that evidence, considered particularly sensitive, may only be kept by Trump’s lawyers and not by Trump himself.
Mercan noted that the order should not be seen as an attempt to silence the former president. He explained that Trump has the right to speak about the trial and defend himself publicly.
Trump faces a long list of legal troubles, including two US Justice Department investigations and a separate investigation in the state of Georgia where he allegedly pressured elected officials to change the results of the 2020 election .
Earlier this month, a jury in New York also found Trump liable for defamation and sexual assault in a civil suit brought by author and magazine columnist E Jean Carroll. The jury awarded Carroll nearly $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. A second defamation lawsuit filed by Carroll is currently underway.
In April, Trump became the first former president in US history to face criminal charges after being charged with 34 felony counts in the Manhattan case.
However, those legal issues have not yet tarnished his popularity with Republican voters, and Trump remains the current front-runner in the race to become the Republican presidential nominee for the 2024 election.