DFormer US President Donald Trump has suffered another setback in court. A New York appeals court on Wednesday rejected another request from Trump to postpone his April 15 criminal trial over hush money payments to a porn actress. Trump's third attempt this week failed.
The criminal proceedings against Trump regarding a hush money payment to a porn actress are taking place in the middle of the election campaign. The jury will almost certainly decide on the guilt or innocence of the Republican and presidential candidate before the election at the beginning of November. The 77-year-old denied any guilt in the trial, as in all his legal proceedings.
First of four criminal proceedings
The indictment against Trump was brought by a grand jury. They accused him of falsifying business documents related to a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. His former lawyer Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 for her silence about a sexual encounter with Trump. According to her account, this is said to have taken place in 2006. Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with the woman – real name Stephanie Clifford. However, he admitted to reimbursing Cohen for his payment to her.
If he is found guilty, Trump will also face political adversity: a narrow result is expected in the November election in the duel against incumbent Joe Biden. The trial starting Monday in New York is the first of four criminal proceedings against Trump.
According to legal experts, the other three cases are actually more serious than the alleged hush money payments: Trump is accused of involvement in election fraud and unlawful handling of confidential documents. However, these processes have been postponed. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four cases, arguing they were politically motivated.
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