Trump Blasts March 25 Trial Date As ‘Election Interference’ Since It Falls During GOP Primaries

Forbes Business Breaking Trump Blasts March 25 Trial Date As ‘Election Interference’ Since It Falls During GOP Primaries Sara Dorn Forbes Staff Politics Following May 23, 2023, 05:17pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Former President Donald Trump blasted the timing of his looming trial in Manhattan Criminal Court as “election interference” Tuesday, hours after a judge set a March start date that coincides with critical early Republican primary contests, bolstering Trump’s strategy of casting his various legal woes as political attacks and capitalizing on them to fundraise and build support. Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his legal team in a Manhattan court, . .

. [+] Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in New York. Trump’s trial in the case is set for March 25, coinciding with critical early primary contests.

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool) Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Key Facts Trump repeated his claims that the case—in which he is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records—is politically motivated, writing on Truth Social: “this is exactly what the Radical Left Democrats wanted.

” Trump appeared before Judge Juan Merchan virtually on Tuesday, where Merchan laid out the terms of a protective order that prohibits Trump from publicly sharing evidence in the case and set the trial date for March 25, when the first primaries in the GOP 2024 presidential race are expected to take place. Trump attorney Todd Blanche told Merchan the former president “is very much concerned that his First Amendment rights are being violated” by the protective order, ABC News reported —a stance Trump reiterated later Tuesday on Truth Social. Key Background Trump pleaded not guilty in April to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money scheme prosecutors allege was designed to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election about an affair she says she had with Trump.

What To Watch For In addition to the Manhattan criminal case, several other law enforcement investigations into Trump’s conduct are heating up as the 2024 presidential campaign season kicks off. The Justice Department recently issued a new wave of subpoenas in its probe into Trump’s handling of documents he took to Mar-A-Lago, the New York Times reported . Investigators said in October they believed they have evidence to charge Trump with obstruction in the case, after he allegedly defied their subpoena for documents and moved some records from the secure storage facility where investigators instructed him to keep them, Bloomberg reported .

The Justice Department also has a separate, ongoing probe into Trump’s role leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot. And the Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney’s office said in April it expects to announce a charging decision in its investigation into Trump’s role in efforts to overturn election results in the state sometime this summer. Tangent Trump has sought to capitalize on the various investigations against him, and despite his indictment in Manhattan, has widened his lead in early polls, with 54% of support from GOP voters, compared to Florida Gov.

Ron DeSantis’ (R) 21%, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average . Following his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court, Trump gave a speech from Mar-A-Lago where he claimed the U. S.

legal system has been hijacked by the left and broadly rebuked the various investigations against him—rhetoric echoed by many prominent GOP figures, including DeSantis. Further Reading Trump Pleads Not Guilty To 34 Counts Of Falsifying Business Records (Forbes) DOJ Prosecutors Have Evidence To Charge Trump With Obstruction In Mar-A-Lago Case—But Still Unclear If They Will, Report Says (Forbes) Trump Leads DeSantis By 46 Points In Widest Margin Yet (Forbes) Follow me on Twitter . Send me a secure tip .

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