Judge Merchan denies Trump motion for mistrial again after Stormy Daniels testimony in NY AG trial
Former President Trump returned to the Manhattan courtroom for day 14 of his New York criminal trial. Judge Juan Merchan denied two motions from Trump's attorneys after the second day cross examination of pornography actress Stormy Daniels concluded.
Coverage for this event has ended.
Former President Donald Trump took aim at the "totally conflicted" Judge Juan Merchan following his appearance in court on Thursday.
"Everybody saw what happened today. I don't think we have to do any expert explaining. I'm not allowed to anyway, because this judge is corrupt. He's a corrupt judge," Trump told reporters in the hallway outside the courtroom. "This judge, what he did and what his ruling was is a disgrace. Everybody saw what happened today. He's a corrupt judge and he's totally conflicted."
"I've got to get back on the campaign trail. I'm not supposed to be here. We are so innocent. There's never been anything like it. ... I'm innocent. And I'm being held in this court with a corrupt judge who's totally conflicted. Take a look at his conflict. It's a disgrace to the city of New York, to the state of New York and to the country," he added.
Former President Donald Trump, center left, and Todd Blanche, attorney for former US President Donald Trump, center right, at Manhattan criminal court in New York, on May 9, 2024. (Getty Images)
Trump's remarks came shortly after Judge Merchan denied Trump defense attorneys’ request for a mistrial and a modification of the gag order on Thursday, arguing that the former president should be able to defend himself against Stormy Daniels’ salacious and "prejudicial" testimony.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this update.
Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump defense attorneys’ request for a mistrial and a modification of the gag order on Thursday, arguing that the former president should be able to defend himself against Stormy Daniels’ salacious and "prejudicial" testimony.
Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche first requested a mistrial on Tuesday after Daniels’ first day on the stand but was denied. Merchan did, however, admit she was a difficult witness to control and said much of her testimony was "unnecessary" and "irrelevant" to the charges.
Trump attorneys on Thursday again requested a mistrial.
Blanche said that the prosecution asked Daniels "a whole host of questions" that never should have been asked, pointing to questions about the porn actress’ childhood and her alleged interaction with Trump. Blanche argued they were "things that are irrelevant to the facts of this case."
Blanche reminded that the case is not about sex, and again stressed that Daniels’ testimony was "extraordinarily prejudicial for the jury to hear."
Blanche continued that many of the questions asked by the prosecution were "prejudicial."
"It is so dangerous, so prejudicial, it borders on a problem from the beginning," Blanche said, adding that Daniels' testimony and story about the alleged sexual encounter kept changing.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Brooke Singman.
Trump defense attorneys on Thursday said Stormy Daniels’ story about an alleged sexual encounter with the former president keeps changing because the affair never happened.
Defense attorney for former President Trump Susan Necheles led the continued cross-examination of Daniels Thursday, after her hours-long testimony on Tuesday that prompted the Trump team to motion for a mistrial, calling it "unnecessary" and "prejudicial." The judge denied the motion.
Necheles, during questioning, pointed to a statement Daniels signed in 2018 denying an encounter with Trump ever took place. Daniels said she did not write the statement, but signed it.
Necheles pointed to another statement where Daniels denied having a sexual relationship with Trump. In part, the statement reads: "I’m denying this affair because it never happened."
Daniels claimed ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen was pushing for her to sign the statement.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Brooke Singman.
Judge Juan Merchan denied a request from the defense on Thursday to allow former President Donald Trump to discuss the happenings in court over the last few days.
Following the jury's dismissal from the courtroom, Merchan heard arguments from lawyers on both sides about the Trump lawyers' renewed call for a mistrial motion. At that time, the defense also requested the judge loosen his gag order so Trump could speak about the testimony given by Stormy Daniels in court this week.
After hearing both sides, Merchan denied the defense's gag order request.
"My concern is not just protecting Daniels, my concern is protecting the integrity of these proceedings as a whole," Merchan told the lawyers.
Merchan said he was concerned about how witnesses who have not yet testified could hear Trump's remarks and it have an impact on their own testimony.
The judge said the reason the gag order was in place is due to the nature of the attacks and insisted Trump's "track record speaks for itself."
Merchan said he would be mindful of witnesses who may use the gag order as a shield.
The prosecution in NY v. Trump said Thursday that they do not plan to call former Playboy model Karen McDougal to testify in the trial, according to defense attorney Todd Blanche.
"The People informed me they no longer intend to call Ms. McDougal," Blanche said, according to multiple reports.
McDougal alleged she had a monthslong affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and was later paid $150,000 by the National Enquirer's parent company to keep quiet about it.
Trump has denied the affair with the December 1997 Playmate of the Month.
Madeleine Westerhout, who previously served as former President Donald Trump's personal secretary in the White House, was brought to tears Thursday as she described her experience in the administration.
The emotion came as Westerhout outlined the former president's relationship with his wife, Melania Trump.
Westerhout said the couple's relationship was one of mutual respect and that they laughed often when they were in the oval office.
Westerhout said Melania would sometimes text Trump, reminding him that it was past dinner time and asking when her husband was coming home.
Though she recognized Trump was her boss, Westerhout insisted Melania “definitely runs the show."
Getting emotional as she reflected on her time in the White House under Trump, Westerhout said she has "grown so much” and said she really respects Trump and thinks that he’s been treated unfairly.
The emotion continued as Westerhout discussed the book she wrote -- "My Dream Job at the White House, Why I Lost It and What I learned."
She said it was important to write the book to show people the man she got to know. She said she wanted to tell that story and reiterated that she believes he’s not been treated fairly.
Madeleine Westerhout, who previously served as former President Donald Trump's personal secretary, told the court on Thursday that Trump's personal expenses were handled through checks.
Checks were sent from the Trump Organization to employees at the White House and Westerhout would take them to the president for him to sign.
Westerhout said the checks came in a FedEx envelope. Inside it was a manila folder with the checks. Invoices, she said, would be attached sometimes.
Westerhout couldn't recall how frequently the checks came, but said they were “consistent, maybe twice a month.”
She said she sometimes witnessed Trump sign the checks, and after they were signed she would put them in a pre-labeled FedEx envelope and send them back to the Trump Organization.
Westerhout couldn't recall a specific time Trump didn’t sign, and recalled a couple of times Trump had a question and called former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg or someone else to ask for clarification.
Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this update.
Former President Donald Trump took to social media on Thursday amid his trial in New York City to blast his opponents in the 2024 race for the White House.
In a series of posts to Truth Social, Trump suggested President Biden is "responsible for banning TikTok."
Trump added, "He is the one pushing it to close, and doing it to help his friends over at Facebook become richer and more dominant, and able to continue to fight, perhaps illegally, the Republican Party. It’s called ELECTION INTERFERENCE..."
In another post, he took aim at Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's also running for president as an independent candidate.
He wrote, "RFK Jr. is a Democrat 'Plant,' a Radical Left Liberal who’s been put in place in order to help Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the History of the United States, get Re-Elected..."
Trump also held Biden's feet to the fire on the issue of a debate between the two of them.
"ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANY PLACE," he wrote in one post, which included a video message.
In another post, he wrote, "Dear Joe, now that you’ve committed to Debate on the now dying Howard Stern Show, no less, let’s set it up right now. I’m ready to go anywhere that you are. We could do it in D.C., even pinpoint the White House, or in New York when your Radical Left Fascists are finished with ELECTION INTERFERENCE against your Political Opponent, ME…"
Madeleine Westerhout watches as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with North Korean defectors in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC on Friday, Feb. 02, 2018. (Getty Images)
Madeleine Westerhout, who previously served as former President Donald Trump's personal secretary and later as the director of Oval Office Operations from February to August 2019, is the next witness to take the stand.
Upon taking the stand, Westerhout said she has never been inside a courtroom before and admits she is nervous.
Westerhout was first asked about the "Access Hollywood" tape.
She said it “rattled RNC leadership” and recalled conversations on how it would be possible to replace Trump as a candidate if it came to that.
Once Trump was elected, Westerhout said she worked from Trump Tower and assisted in scheduling interviews for cabinet positions and senior staff roles for the new administration.
Westerhout was nicknamed by members of the media as "The Greeter Girl."
Westerhout noted that she worked "seamlessly" with Rhona Graff, Trump's longtime assistant, and insisted she was "integral” with scheduling interviews.
Fox News' Grace Taggart contributed to this update.
The defense's cross examination of Rebecca Manochio, the prosecution's 14th witness, has concluded and the next witness has been called to the stand.
The next witness is Tracey Menzies of Harper Collins. Manhattan Assistant DA Rebecca Mangold is handling direct examination.
Menzies is from Monmouth Count, New Jersey, and works for Harper Collins Book Publishing. She was compelled to testify on behalf of Harper Collins.
Menzies is testifying as a custodian of records for Harper Collins, which was subpoenaed.
Prior to a decision made by Judge Juan Merchan to not allow additional photography at the NY v. Trump trial, Stormy Daniels , a witness for the prosecution, snagged a photo with her attorney on Tuesday.
The photo, which emerged Thursday, showed a smiling Daniels alongside her attorney, Clark Brewster, from inside the witness room inside the courthouse on May 7.
The photo was posted to Brewster’s law firm’s Facebook page on Tuesday.
Daniels, who alleged she had a sexual encounter with Donald Trump in a Lake Tahoe hotel room in 2006, took the stand once more on Tuesday and faced questions from the defense.
The defense in NY v. Trump said Thursday that it would renew its motion for a mistrial following the second round of testimony of pornographic actress Stormy Daniels.
The defense, according to reporters inside the courtroom, said it had three applications to bring up, including renewed motion for mistrial and gag order.
Those efforts will be discussed following testimony this evening at 4 p.m. ET.
Judge Juan Merchan previously denied the defense's request for a mistrial on Tuesday after defense attorney Todd Blanche told him that Daniels' first round of testimony was prejudicial.
Merchan said a mistrial was not warranted and stated that he was doing everything he could to control the witness, including once objecting to Daniels' testimony himself.
"I agree that it would have been better if some of these things had been left unsaid," Merchan said at the time.
The court has taken a lunch break and will resume at 2:15 p.m. ET.
Cross-examination of Trump Organization junior bookkeeper Rebecca Manochio will begin after lunch.
REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
The prosecution called Rebecca Manochio, its 14th witness, to the stand on Thursday following testimony from Stormy Daniels.
Manochio, a junior bookkeeper for the Trump Organization for 11 years, was compelled to testify and has her attorneys present.
Manochio said she was assistant to former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg for roughly eight years and sat outside his office.
Part of Manochio's responsibilities was attaching invoices to checks that needed signatures from Weisselberg.
Manochio testified Thursday that Donald Trump's personal expenses were handled by the Trump Organization and that his expenses were paid by check.
During his tenure in the White House, Manochio said she would use FedEx to send Trump checks once a week.
Stormy Daniels said Thursday that part of her decision to enter a non-disclosure agreement was for her own safety.
Under re-direct from the prosecution, Daniels was asked by Manhattan prosecutor Susan Hoffinger about fear being a reason she entered into the NDA and “hiding in plain view.”
Daniels said a friend of hers who is an attorney told her that “if you’re out in the open, you’re safer."
Daniels confirmed part of her motivation for entering into the NDA was to keep her safe. She added, “We’re all happy to take the money. It’s just a bonus.”
Daniels sued Donald Trump in 2018, claiming the non-disclosure agreement she signed isn’t valid because it lacks Trump’s signature.
Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this update.
Stormy Daniels was questioned Thursday in court about differences in how she has told the story of her alleged sexual encounter with former President Donald Trump over the past several years.
Attempting to show inconsistencies in Daniels' story, Trump lawyer Susan Necheles pointed out that Daniels has performed in pornography, and asked her how Trump's alleged propositions in a hotel room made her feel faint, and her hands go numb -- as she testified earlier this week.
Daniels said that when someone is not expecting it, and it's not a husband but an older man is laying on the bed in boxers, it’s startling.
Necheles then pointed to remarks Daniels made in her book, where she claimed she was so assertive and powerful that she "made [Trump] my b---h."
Necheles said Daniels did not say no to having sex with Trump, which Daniels confirmed. Daniels also confirmed that this wasn’t the first time someone had made a pass at her, and said it was the first time there was a bodyguard outside.
“You told In Touch a completely different story," Necheles said. Daniels replied, "No" and claimed “there were parts in the middle I didn’t remember.”
Stormy said she was not trying to make money in 2011, and the In Touch article was an abbreviated version.
Daniels said an In Touch article “left out a lot of stuff because they couldn’t fact check it.”
"You made it up,” Necheles asked. "No," Daniels responded.
Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this update.
Sen. Rick Scott (center-right) enters NY courthouse with Trump ahead of trial (Jeenah Moon-Pool/Getty Images)
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott attended former President Donald Trump's trial in New York City on Thursday and offered support for Trump while targeting those behind the effort to convict him as a "bunch of Democrats" who are preventing him from campaigning.
"This can't continue. What's happening to this president is wrong. We're watching all over the country, watching all these cases that are going after somebody simply because he's a political opponent of Joe Biden," Scott told reporters outside the courtroom. "I'm proud of him for standing up for all of us. Because guess what? It's nothing to do with him. They can go after any one of us if they want to. ... If they can go after the former president, they can go after you."
"Now let's look at who is involved, who's involved in doing this. The lead prosecutor was the number three person [at] the Biden Justice Department. The judge's daughter is a political operative and raises money for Democrats. You've got the lead prosecutor's wife, [who] is a significant donor to Democrats, I think to Biden. So this is just a bunch of Democrats saying we want to make sure that Donald Trump can't talk," he added.
Scott also mentioned the gag order Trump is under, which prevents him from talking about certain elements related to the trial, and insisted that he has been prevented from campaigning due to the trial.
"You know, they've got a gag order so he can't go campaign. They they've got him holed up in a in a courtroom. So Joe Biden can go campaign, [but] Donald Trump can't. This has to stop. Look, we know that President Biden can't win this election fair and square. He has nothing to run on. And we know President Trump has he has a record. He secured the border. He had a great economy where we weren't at war," Scott said.
"So that's why this is happening. Joe Biden knows, and Democrats know, that he cannot win. Joe Biden cannot win this election," he added.
Under cross-examination Thursday, Stormy Daniels confirmed to the court that she tells people she can speak with their dead relatives.
The confirmation from Daniels came after she claimed in January 2022 to be a "medium" who could communicate with nonliving spirits during a fraud trial against her former lawyer, Michael Avenatti, according to Reuters.
"I don't know, it just happens sometimes," Daniels said at the time, adding that she used "cards" and "meditation" and sometimes recorded the conversations she had with the dead.
Under cross-examination at the time by Avenatti, Daniels was asked whether she had experienced "poltergeist phenomenon."
Daniels responded, "Yes."
Fox News' Grace Taggart contributed to this report.
Stormy Daniels defended previous social media remarks she made referring to Donald Trump as an "orange turd" who she wanted to "flush".
Trump lawyer Susan Necheles asked Daniels Thursday if she keeps posting on social media about being instrumental in putting Trump in jail.
The court reviewed Defense Exhibit J-43, a prior post from Daniels. Daniels said someone called her a human toilet and she capitalized on the joke in a post about the trial, insinuating she was “the best person to flush the orange turd down.”
Stormy maintained that it was hyperbole and that she is not a human toilet, but she absolutely meant Trump.
When Trump was indicted in this case, Daniels tweeted about him being indicted, and when people asked how they could support her, she tweeted the link to her online store.
Defense exhibits of Daniels' social media posts showed Daniels thanking people for their support amid Trump's indictment. Daniels told the court she was celebrating the indictment and that selling merchandise is her doing her job.
Stormy Daniels admitted in court Thursday to receiving nearly $1 million for her story regarding an alleged affair with Donald Trump.
Under cross-examination, Daniels was asked by Trump lawyer Susan Necheles whether she wanted to publicly say she had sex with Trump. Daniels responded, “No, no one would ever want to publicly say that."
When pressed again bout making money, Stormy says she did a piece with 60 Minutes for free.
Daniels confirmed she sold her life story for $800K for the book. When Necheles said Daniels was paid $930K for selling her story (including the $130K payment from Cohen), Daniels said she didn’t receive the $800K.
Asked about the book, Daniels said the story started when she was two, but she assumed people would read the part about Trump first.
Necheles also asked about the “Make America Horny Tour,” to which Daniels responded, “I did not name that tour."
Daniels also said in court Thursday that she only received a portion of the $130K payment in return for signing the NDA.
Stormy Daniels was questioned in court Thursday during cross-examination about a statement she released denying the encounter between her and Donald Trump.
Trump lawyer Susan Necheles read parts of the statement, specifically the portions denying Daniels had sex with Trump. Daniels said she did not write the statement, but signed it.
Necheles pointed to another statement where Daniels denied having a sexual relationship with Trump. One part reads, “I’m denying this affair because it never happened.”
Daniels confirmed that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen was pushing for her to sign the statement.
Fox News' Maria Parnich contributed to this report.
Court sketch (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
Under cross-examination Thursday, Stormy Daniels was questioned by Trump lawyer Susan Necheles about her attempts to sell the story about her alleged affair with Trump.
Necheles began by asking Daniels if she requested money from Trump.
Daniels responded, “I never asked for money from President Trump.”
Facing pressure from Necheles, Daniels added, “I never asked for money from anyone in particular. I asked for money for telling my story…I was asking for money from publications to sell my story, to get the truth out.”
Pressed again, Daniels said she chose to stay safe and chose the NDA.
Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Hope Hicks (Getty Images)
Hope Hicks, a top former aide to former President Trump, delivered emotional testimony Friday in the hush money trial against her former boss.
Hicks served as press secretary for the former president's 2016 campaign, moving on to become a top aide to Trump during his time in the White House.
Hicks was summoned by the prosecution to testify about her experience with Trump and their work to combat several scandals that arose over the years, including the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape released before the 2016 election.
Hicks testified that she believed Trump was aware of the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels in 2016, that was paid by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to quiet an alleged affair ahead of the election. Trump maintains that he was never involved with Daniels, and Hicks described the former president as being family-oriented in any decisions to suppress any potentially damaging information.
"I don’t think he wanted anyone in his family to be hurt or embarrassed about anything on the campaign," Hicks said. "He wanted them to be proud of him."
The defense could use Hicks’ testimony to argue that Trump didn't want specific information made public to protect his family, rather than in the alleged effort to win an election.
Hicks also mentioned Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and a key witness for the prosecution, who she said "used to like to call himself Mr. Fix It, but it was only because he first broke it."
Former President Trump raged that prosecutors in his New York criminal proceedings have "no case" on Thursday.
Trump made the comments to the press moments before entering Judge Juan Merchan's courtroom. The former president argued the case against him "should never have been brought," and argued that legal scholars believe the case to be a sham.
Trump also had words for President Biden, blasting his warning for Israel on Wednesday night. Biden informed Israel that the U.S. would withhold certain military aid if it moves forward with an invasion of Rafah.
"If you are Jewish and you voted for Biden you ought to be ashamed of yourself," Trump said.
Trump's trial will continue Thursday with the cross examination of pornography actress Stormy Daniels.
Juan Merchan is an acting justice of the New York State Supreme Court in New York County.
Merchan is presiding over the unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump.
Merchan, a former prosecutor, has imposed a gag order on the former president for the entirety of the trial. He ruled Trump has violated that gag order 10 times – holding the former president in contempt of court and fining him $10,000 to date.
This week, Merchan threatened Trump with jail time, saying the monetary fine is clearly ineffective in preventing the former president from violating the gag order.
"The last thing I want to consider is jail," Merchan said. "You are [the] former president and possibly the next president."
"The magnitude of that decision is not lost on me," Merchan said. "Your continued willful violation of the court’s order…constitutes a direct attack…and will not be allowed to continue…It is not allowed to continue."
Merchan has forced Trump to be in court for each day of his criminal trial. This means the former president has missed arguments at the Supreme Court on the matter of presidential immunity and whether he is immune from prosecution in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case.
Meanwhile, Merchan ultimately decided Trump, later this month, can attend the high school graduation of his youngest son, Barron Trump.
Merchan’s daughter works for a political firm that services Democratic politicians like Rep. Adam Schiff and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump has called on Merchan to recuse himself from the case due to his daughter's affiliation with Democrats.
Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, took the stand to testify in the unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump on Tuesday.
She now faces cross examination on Thursday. Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen paid Daniels a $130,000 hush money payment ahead of the 2016 presidential election in an effort to keep her silent on allegations of an affair with Trump in 2006.
The payments to Daniels were first revealed in January 2018 in a Wall Street Journal report that said Cohen and Daniels’ lawyer negotiated a nondisclosure agreement to prevent her from publicly discussing the supposed sexual encounter with Trump.
At the time, though, Cohen, Trump, and even Daniels denied the arrangement.
In January 2018, Cohen said the alleged encounter between Daniels and Trump was a rumor that had circulated "since 2011."
And in a letter dated Jan. 10, 2018, obtained and reviewed by Fox News, Daniels also denied the allegations.
"I recently became aware that certain news outlets are alleging that I had a sexual and/or romantic affair with Donald Trump many, many, many years ago. I am stating with complete clarity that this is absolutely false," Daniels wrote. "My involvement with Donald Trump was limited to a few public appearances and nothing more."
Daniels wrote in the letter that when she met Trump, he was "gracious, professional and a complete gentleman to me and EVERYONE in my presence."
"Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false," the letter read. "If indeed I did have a relationship with Donald Trump, trust me, you wouldn’t be reading about it in the news, you would be reading about it in my book. But the fact of the matter is, these stories are not true."
But in March 2018, Daniels changed her story. During an interview with CBS News’ "60 Minutes," Daniels claimed she had a one-time, unprotected sexual encounter with Trump.
Veteran prosecutor Todd Blanche is one of the attorneys representing former President Trump in NY v. Trump, where the presumptive GOP presidential nominee faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
Blanche is joined on the case by his firm’s co-counsel, Emil Bove, as well as attorney Susan Necheles, who has previously represented the Trump Organization.
He also notably worked alongside his now-opponent in the courtroom, New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg, while a federal prosecutor, according to the Washington Post.
Blanche also previously represented another Trumpworld figure, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
He successfully blunted an indictment against the former Black, Manafort & Stone political consultant in a mortgage fraud case in which Manafort had been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Blanche’s motion arguing then-New York County District Attorney Cy Vance’s prosecution was both politically motivated and an instance of double jeopardy led to the indictment ultimately being dismissed.
From 2006 to 2014, Blanche served as the co-chief of the White Plains division of the powerful U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
A number of text messages have been presented to the jury during the unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump.
One exchange was presented during the testimony of Keith Davidson. Davidson served as an attorney who once represented Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Davidson sent a text message to National Enquirer Editor Dylan Howard.
“I have a blockbuster Trump story,” he wrote.
“Talk first thing I will get you more than anyone for it,” Howard replied. “You know why.”
Howard added: “Did he cheat on Melania? Do you know if the affair was during his marriage to Melania?”
Davidson replied: “I really cannot say yet. Sorry.”
Meanwhile, Davidson testified Stormy Daniels’ denial of an affair with Trump was technically true. He also testified that the money ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid her was not a payoff, but a "consideration."
Trump’s defense attorneys, during cross-examination, played audio recordings of Davidson, in which he can be heard admitting Cohen did not need permission from Trump to make the payment to Daniels.
Federal Judge Aileen Cannon indefinitely postponed former President Trump’s classified records trial in a Tuesday filing.
The trial was set to litigate charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, which notably featured an August 2022 FBI raid on the Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach, Fla.
Cannon announced the postponement was due to “myriad and interconnected pre-trial” issues and that they inhibited the court from fully and fairly considering pending pret-rial motions.
"The Court therefore vacates the current May 20, 2024, trial date (and associated calendar call), to be reset by separate order following resolution of the matters before the Court, consistent with Defendants’ right to due process and the public’s interest in the fair and efficient administration of justice," Cannon wrote in her ruling.
Cannon had also scheduled a non-evidentiary hearing to litigate Trump valet Waltine Nauta’s motion to dismiss in his related case later this month.
The Trump-appointed judge however did schedule a status conference for July 22 and a hearing on a motion to dismiss on grounds of “unlawful appointment and funding of special counsel” for June 21.
Adult film star Stormy Daniels, nee Stephanie Clifford, has been a high-profile witness in NY v. Trump proceedings taking place in Lower Manhattan this week.
While the current case before Judge Juan Merchan has examined a $130,000 “hush money” payment to Daniels, she also found herself on the receiving end of a punitive ruling six years ago.
Daniel still owes Trump more than many thousands more due in part to unsuccessful defamation litigation she lodged against the former president.
In 2018, Daniels was ordered to pay Trump nearly $300,000 in legal fees and sanctions after her case was dismissed.
Daniels had alleged defamation in regard to a tweet from Trump claiming she made up a “con job” story about being threatened by a man in Nevada to drop allegations about a sexual encounter with him.
Los Angeles federal Judge S. James Otero ruled Trump’s comment was “rhetorical hyperbole” typical of political discourse.
On Tuesday, the topic was brought up during questioning from Trump attorney Susan Necheles, who probed Daniels about a 2022 tweet in which she stated she’d rather go to jail than pay Trump.
“That was me saying, ‘I will not pay for telling the truth,” Daniels said on the stand.
After a panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Daniels’ appeal in 2020, the former president’s son Eric Trump tweeted that the court had awarded his father another $122,000 in legal fees.
California Republican National Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon, a Trump attorney at the time, shared a copy of the court’s order and congratulated him on what she calculated to be “more than $600,000 in attorney fee awards in the former president’s favor in the "meritless litigation initiated by Stormy Daniels.
Court was not in session for NY v. Trump on Wednesday but resumes Thursday.
The unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump resumes Thursday morning with continued cross-examination of adult film actress Stormy Daniels after the 2024 presumptive presidential nominee and his attorneys were denied in their motion for a mistrial amid her salacious and "unnecessary" testimony.
Trump's defense team is reportedly planning a longer route to dissect the wild card witness.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges stem from a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The charges are related to alleged payments made ahead of the 2016 presidential election to silence Daniels about an alleged 2006 extramarital affair with Trump.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg must convince the jury that, not only did Trump falsify business records related to alleged hush money payments, he did so in furtherance of another crime — conspiracy to promote or prevent election, which would be a felony.
On their own, falsifying business records and conspiracy to promote or prevent election are misdemeanor charges.
The continued questioning of Daniels will come from Trump defense attorneys, who began their cross-examination of the adult film actress, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, Tuesday.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Brooke Singman
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