Former President Donald Trump’s legal calendar has been significantly impacted, but there is a possibility of gaining clarity on his trial schedule following a hearing in New York on Monday.
As he campaigns against incumbent Joe Biden, 81, for control of the White House, 77-year-old Trump is facing four criminal trials, including two federal cases.
The trial concerning allegations of Trump’s payment of hush money to an adult film actress was scheduled to commence on Monday. However, the case was delayed due to a document dump by prosecutors just before the trial.
In April 2023, Trump entered a plea of not guilty to 34 felony counts. These charges were connected to allegations that he had paid off Stormy Daniels through a lawyer prior to the 2016 presidential election, and had attempted to conceal it as a legal expense before assuming the presidency.
Judge Juan Merchan has agreed to a 30-day postponement in order to review the documents, thus rescheduling the trial for April 15th.
Trump has requested a 90-day period to thoroughly review the extensive collection of documents, which amounts to over 100,000 pages. These documents were produced by the prosecutors last week. However, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has expressed opposition to this request, stating that a significant portion of the documents are not relevant to the case.
Both sides will appear in court on Monday to discuss the matter with Merchan.
Monday marks the deadline for Trump to generate $464 million, along with interest, as a bond for appealing a civil case that poses a significant threat to both his presidential campaign and his real estate investments.
Trump is currently challenging a decision made by Superior Court Judge Arthur Engoron in a civil fraud lawsuit initiated by New York Attorney General Letitia James in 2022. Trump claims that the judge made errors in law and/or fact, abused their discretion, and/or exceeded their jurisdiction.
According to Engoron’s findings, banks and insurers were deceived by Trump, his company, and top executives, including his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. They accomplished this by inflating the value of their family’s wealth on financial statements that were used to secure loans.
The judge has issued an order for Trump to pay a total of $355 million in penalties. As a result of accumulated interest, the amount has now increased to nearly $464 million.
According to reports, Trump has expressed his inability to obtain a bond for the required amount and instead proposed putting up a $100 million bond. In response, James has stated that she will pursue legal avenues to enforce the judgment if Trump fails to produce the funds. This may involve potentially seizing his real estate assets.
Trump has been preoccupied with money.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, but this Radical Left New York Judge, Arthur Engoron (Can we even talk about his Unconstitutional Gag Order?), randomly came up with a whopping $355,000,000, plus interest (reminds me of John Lovitz’s “The Liar” skit on SNL back in the good old days), and now he expects me to come up with a bond for that amount. It’s simply impossible for bonding companies to handle such a huge sum before I can even file an Appeal,” Trump expressed on Truth Social. “That’s absolutely insane! If I sold off my assets and then won the Appeal, I’d lose those assets forever. Additionally, putting up money before an Appeal is incredibly expensive. Once I win the Appeal, all that money would be gone, and I would be left with no wrongdoing.”
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