Stormy Daniels hush money case: Trump’s historic criminal trial set for April 15

Former United States president Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels will now begin on April 15, said the judge on Monday (Mar 25) after rejecting the claims ofprosecutorial misconduct made by the defence.

Trump, 77, is set to become the first-ever former US president to go on trial for criminal charges.

What happened?

Earlier this month, Judge Juan Manuel Merchan had agreed to a 30-day delay, starting Mar 15after Trump’s lawyers complained that they only recently received more than 100,000 pages of documents from a previous federal investigation into the matter.

Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche also argued that it is unfair for the former president to stand trial while he is running for office.

“He shouldn’t have to sit for a trial now because (prosecutors) chose to bring this case a year ago and not three years ago,” Blanche said after Merchan had set the new date.

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The Republican presidential hopeful wouldbe convicted or cleared before the November 5 election where he is running against incumbent Joe Biden, assuming that the mid-April date holds.

At a court hearing on Monday (Mar 25), Merchanbristled at what he suggested were baseless claims by the Trump legal team of "prosecutorial misconduct," reported the Associated Press.

Prosecutors have said only a handful of those newly released records were relevant to the case. However, the defence has argued thatthousands of pages are potentially important and require a review.

Trump “will not suffer any prejudice” and the prosecutors who turned it over were not at fault, said the judge.Merchan also noted that the allegations ofprosecutorial misconduct that the defence is making are "incredibly serious."

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"You’re accusing the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the people involved in this case of prosecutorial misconduct and of trying to make me complicit in it. And you don’t have a single cite to support that position," said the judge, as quoted by AP.

The selection of the jury, which was supposed to begin on March 25, isalso delayed.

About the case

The 77-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the 34-count indictment, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat which includes charges of accounting fraud and falsifying business records to cover up the $130,000 payment to the adult film star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

The prosecutors have also accused Trump of illegally covering up remittances to his long-time lawyer, Michael Cohen to reimburse him for payments about the Republican frontrunner’s alleged extramarital sexual relations with Daniels and a Playboy model.

(With inputs from agencies)