Donald J. Trump is all but certain to become the first former American president to stand trial on criminal charges after a judge on Monday denied his effort to delay the proceeding and confirmed it would begin next month.
The trial, in which Mr. Trump will be accused of orchestrating the cover-up of a simmering sex scandal surrounding his 2016 presidential campaign, had originally been scheduled to start this week. But the judge, Juan M. Merchan, had pushed the start date to April 15 to allow Mr. Trump’s lawyers to review newly disclosed documents from a related federal investigation.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers had pushed for an even longer delay of 90 days and sought to have the case thrown out altogether. But in an hourlong hearing Monday, Justice Merchan slammed their arguments, rejecting them all.
In a particularly low moment for the defense team, the judge questioned the claims — and eventually, the résumé — of one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers as the former president looked on.
After a midmorning break, the judge returned to the courtroom, said that the former president had suffered no harm from the late disclosure of the documents and made the April 15 trial date final.
“Defendant has been given a reasonable amount of time,” the judge said crisply.
Trump Criminal Trial Is Set for April 15
Trump Criminal Trial Is Set for April 15
Get ready crime fans, this one is a criminal trial... and what's with Trump's clown lawyers?
“Blessed are those who are righteous in his name.”
― Matt
Posting Content © 2024 TC Talks Holdings LP.
― Matt
Posting Content © 2024 TC Talks Holdings LP.
Re: Trump Criminal Trial Is Set for April 15
Is this a news reporter or a novel author?The trial, in which Mr. Trump will be accused of orchestrating the cover-up of a simmering sex scandal surrounding his 2016 presidential campaign...
...Justice Merchan slammed their arguments...
...the judge said crisply...
Re: Trump Criminal Trial Is Set for April 15
Crisply suggests that he didn’t expect more b.s. from the defends. Sorry the writer doesn't craft stories for the conspiracy crowd.
“Blessed are those who are righteous in his name.”
― Matt
Posting Content © 2024 TC Talks Holdings LP.
― Matt
Posting Content © 2024 TC Talks Holdings LP.
Re: Trump Criminal Trial Is Set for April 15
Trying to describe the way the judge behaved towards their arguments and how he spoke is still within bounds.bmw wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2024 7:03 pmIs this a news reporter or a novel author?The trial, in which Mr. Trump will be accused of orchestrating the cover-up of a simmering sex scandal surrounding his 2016 presidential campaign...
...Justice Merchan slammed their arguments...
...the judge said crisply...
Re: Trump Criminal Trial Is Set for April 15
Not really… he is accused of paying off a porn star to shut her up while he ran for office which had it broken wide open at the time with her describing him in detail it would probably have sunk him or done damage. Clearly he was afraid of that outcome or he wouldn’t have made hush money payments. Therefore it was simmering below the surface and they covered it up before it boiled over on him.
Re: Trump Criminal Trial Is Set for April 15
That's not accurate. There was nothing illegal about paying her off to shut her up. What he's accused of is improperly classifying those payments in his bookkeeping as legal expenses. Which to me seems so ridiculously petty to go after him for that.
Fun little side-story. In 2015, I sued my local school over Open Meetings Act violations. Specifically, I sued the Superintendent and 3 board members for a total of 10 counts - at $500 each, or $5,000 total. The other part of my suit was a request for injunctive relief to overturn the decisions they had illegally made behind closed doors. Rather than risk losing everything at trial, they made me an offer of judgment in the full amount I sued for, plus costs. That offer put me between a rock and a hard place because if you reject an offer of judgment and then fail to win at least that amount plus an additional 10% at trial, you are then liable for the other side's legal fees. I was pro-se, and I wasn't entirely sure how that would have worked since I had injunctive relief tied to it (ie, I thought I probably had to win the full amount plus the injunctive relief to avoid having to pay legal fees), so I took the money. That's actually what I started my business with.
Why am I bringing up that story? When I got the check, it came from the school board, and in the memo line, it was itemized as a "settlement." Legally speaking, settlements and judgments are two totally different things. An offer of judgment has the same effect as a judgment won at trial, just that it was voluntarily entered into by the other side. Why is this discrepancy a big deal? Because pursuant to Michigan's Open Meetings Act, EACH INDIVIDUAL DEFENDANT is PERSONALLY liable for damages. Meaning, had I won a judgment at trial, each individual Defendant would have had to pay me out of their own pockets. Same should have applied for a voluntary judgment. Instead, the Board paid it and book-kept it as a "settlement."
Having been in court for over 2 years, I was just ready to be done, so I didn't make a fuss over it. But I could have, and I think there could have been big trouble for them had I pursued it because that was possibly blatant fraud. That is an example where mis-classification in the books has a fraudulent impact.