China News Service, April 9 (Xinhua) According to foreign media reports, on the 8th local time, a judge of the New York State Court of Appeals rejected former President Trump's request to urgently postpone the criminal trial of the "hush money" case. The case is scheduled for next day. The trial officially started this week.
Data map: Trump.
Trump's lawyers reportedly argued that "an impartial jury cannot now be selected based on pre-trial prejudicial publicity" and therefore the trial needs to be halted.
New York State Court of Appeal Judge Lizbeth Gonzalez rejected the request in a ruling on the 8th local time, but did not provide any explanation. However, Gonzalez's ruling only affects Trump's request for a postponement and does not affect his motion to change the venue of the trial.
At the same time, Trump’s lawyers are still fighting against the limited gag order issued by Judge Juan Mochin against him last month. The Court of Appeal is expected to hear this on the 9th local time.
Trump's lawyers argued that the gag order was unconstitutional and that jury selection could not be conducted fairly due to the publicity surrounding the case. Lawyers argued in a court filing last month that Manhattan, New York County, was "overwhelmingly biased against Trump" due to pretrial publicity and requested a postponement of the trial.
In response, the prosecutor's office said in a filing that "given the sheer size of New York County, the defendant's claim that it would be impossible to find more than a dozen fair and impartial jurors, as well as alternate jurors, among more than one million people." It is absurd to suggest that it is, or even unrealistic.”
As previously reported, the "hush money" case refers to a criminal case in which Trump allegedly misappropriated campaign funds and falsified business records to pay "hush money" to female star Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. According to the disclosed indictment, Trump faces 34 felony charges related to the "hush money" investigation. Trump denies all wrongdoing. The case is scheduled to be heard on April 15, 2024.
Trump is the first former president to be criminally prosecuted in U.S. history. Currently, he is involved in multiple criminal proceedings, including the case of allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election, the "secret documents scandal" case, etc.