On Monday, I wrote that we should “expect this week to include rejections of desperate defense attempts to further delay” Donald Trump’s hush money trial. With the former president already striking out three separate times at the state appeals court this week, he has exceeded my modest prediction — and it’s only Thursday.
The serial rejections show that the New York state courts — so far — are not entertaining the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s delay gambits. Jury selection in the first criminal trial against an ex-president is still on track for Monday. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for allegedly covering up hush money paid to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
State appellate judges have declined to halt the trial despite Trump’s legal barrage. He has sought to elevate several issues as reasons to block the proceedings — a grab bag of claims that include, among others, his gag order, a bid to change the Manhattan venue, and his ongoing quest to get Judge Juan Merchan off the case.
Litigation will continue on those issues, but as of now, that won’t stop the trial from starting as scheduled. In addition to the appellate litigation, Merchan himself may have more rulings to issue (likely against Trump) before the trial gets going. The judge has likewise been reluctant to entertain delay bids from the defense. Indeed, he has explicitly called out the stall tactic.
Despite the staggering pace and volume of pretrial litigation, don’t be surprised if even more comes — up to and including at the start of the trial and perhaps throughout as well. But unless we see a new, successful defense claim develop that hasn’t materialized yet, all signs point to the trial moving forward on Monday.
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