Trump's New York hush money case is set for trial April 15

NEW YORK (AP) — The first of Donald Trump’s four criminal trials will begin April 15, a Manhattan judge ruled Monday, tearing into the former president’s lawyers for what he said were unfounded claims that the hush-money case had been tainted by prosecutorial misconduct.

Judge Juan M. Merchan scoffed at the defense’s calls to delay the case longer or throw it out entirely because of a last-minute document dump that had bumped the first-ever trial of a former president from its scheduled Monday start. Trump vowed to appeal the ruling.

Barring another delay, the presumptive Republican nominee will be on trial as a criminal defendant in just three weeks — an inauspicious homecoming in the city where he grew up, built a real estate empire and gained wealth and celebrity that propelled him to the White House.

The trial, involving allegations related to hush money paid during Trump’s 2016 campaign to cover up marital infidelity claims, had been in limbo after his lawyers complained about a recent deluge of nearly 200,000 pages of evidence from a previous federal investigation into the matter.

Former President Donald Trump, center, leaves a pre-trial hearing during a recess with his defense team at Manhattan criminal, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president will go on trial. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)

Trump’s lawyers accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office of intentionally failing to pursue evidence from the 2018 federal investigation, which sent Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen to prison. They contended prosecutors working under Bragg, a Democrat, did so to gain an unfair advantage in the case and harm Trump’s election chances. Cohen, now a vocal Trump critic, is poised to be a key prosecution witness against his ex-boss.

Merchan bristled at the defense’s claims at a hearing Monday, saying the D.A.'s office had no duty to collect evidence from the federal investigation, nor was the U.S. attorney’s office required to volunteer the documents. What transpired was a “far cry” from Manhattan prosecutors "injecting themselves in the process and vehemently trying to obstruct your ability to get evidence,” the judge said.

Merchan grew impatient, pressing Trump lawyer Todd Blanche to cite even a single legal precedent for his argument. When the lawyer couldn't, the judge laid into him, saying: “You’re accusing the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the people involved in this case of prosecutorial misconduct and of trying to make me complicit in it. And you don’t have a single cite to support that position.”

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said the number of relevant, usable, new documents in the recently provided evidence “is quite small” — around 300 records or fewer. Trump’s lawyers contend thousands of pages are potentially important and require painstaking review. They argued the delayed disclosures warranted dismissing the case or at least pushing it off three months.

Former President Donald Trump departs Trump Tower to attend a pre-trial hearing in Manhattan criminal court, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president will go on trial. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, POOL)

“We’re not doing our jobs if we don’t independently review the materials,” Blanche told the judge. “Every document is important.”

The D.A.'s office denied wrongdoing and blamed Trump’s lawyers for bringing the time crunch upon themselves by waiting until Jan. 18 to subpoena the records from the U.S. attorney’s office — a mere nine weeks before the trial was originally supposed to start. Merchan, who earlier this month postponed the trial until at least mid-April to deal with the evidence issue, told defense lawyers that they should have acted sooner if they believed they didn’t have all the records they wanted.

Trump complained about the ruling outside court, renewing his complaint that the case is “election interference."

“This is a case that could have been brought three and a half years ago. And now they’re fighting over days because they want to try and do it during the election. This is election interference. That’s all it is. Election interference and it’s a disgrace,” the former president said.

The hearing took place the same day a New York appeals court granted Trump a dose of good news by agreeing to hold off collection of his $454 million civil fraud judgment — if he puts up $175 million within 10 days.

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, second from right, arrives at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president Donald Trump will go on trial. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The dueling developments underscored New York's place as an epicenter of Trump’s legal peril. Though the hush money case is seen as less consequential than his other prosecutions — which charge him with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally retaining classified documents — it has taken on added importance given that it’s the only one that appears likely for trial in the coming months.

The trial will begin with jury selection, a potentially arduous task given the publicity surrounding the case and Trump’s wild unpopularity in heavily Democratic Manhattan.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsified business records, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, though there is no guarantee a conviction would result in jail time. Manhattan prosecutors say Trump did it as part of an effort to protect his 2016 campaign by burying what he says were false stories of extramarital sex. Trump on Monday repeated to reporters his claims that the case is a “witch hunt” and “hoax.”

Prosecutors allege that Trump falsely logged payments to Cohen, then his personal lawyer, as legal fees in his company’s books when they were for his work covering up stories that might embarrass Trump. That included $130,000 he’d paid porn actor Stormy Daniels on Trump’s behalf, so she wouldn’t publicize her claim of a sexual encounter with him years earlier.

Trump’s lawyers say the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses, not cover-up checks.

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court to attend a pre-trial hearing, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president will go on trial. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance violations related to the Daniels payoff. He said Trump directed him to arrange it, and federal prosecutors indicated they believed him, but Trump was never charged.

Trump’s lawyers said Bragg’s office turned over just a fraction of materials from that investigation last June. The material hasn’t been made public. But Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing that some of it is “exculpatory and favorable to the defense.” The sharing of evidence, called discovery, is routine in criminal cases and is intended to help ensure a fair trial.

Bragg’s deputies have insisted they “engaged in good-faith and diligent efforts to obtain relevant information” from the federal probe. They argued in court filings that Trump’s lawyers should have spoken up earlier if they believed those efforts were lacking.

Prosecutors maintain that, in any event, the vast majority of what ultimately came is irrelevant, duplicative or backs up existing evidence about Cohen’s well-known federal conviction.

Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Philip Marcelo and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump arrives for the start of a hearing at New York Criminal Court in New York, Monday, March 25, 2024. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump arrives for the start of a hearing at New York Criminal Court in New York, Monday, March 25, 2024. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)

A protestors demonstrates outside Manhattan criminal court while awaiting the arrival of former President Donald Trump, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president will go on trial. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Protestors demonstrate outside Manhattan criminal court while awaiting the arrival of former President Donald Trump, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president will go on trial. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Former President Donald Trump, left, departs Trump Tower to attend a pre-trial hearing in Manhattan criminal court, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president will go on trial. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court to attend a pre-trial hearing, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president will go on trial. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FILE - Former President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan criminal court, Feb. 15, 2024, in New York. Trump's hush money case is set for a crucial hearing Monday, March 25, as a judge weighs when or even whether Trump will go on trial. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Former President Donald Trump comments as he leaves a pre-trial hearing during a recess with his defense team at Manhattan criminal, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president will go on trial. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of a pre-trial hearing with his defense team at Manhattan criminal, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president will go on trial. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)

PARIS (AP) — French police removed dozens of students from the Sorbonne university after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the main courtyard of the elite institution in Paris on Monday.

About 50 protesters set up tents at midday Monday at the Sorbonne university courtyard in support of Palestinians, echoing similar encampments and solidarity demonstrations across the United States.

Protesters unveiled a giant Palestinian flag and chanted slogans in support of Palestinians in Gaza, as Israel continues its offensive following the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the Israeli-Hamas war. Police entered the university grounds in the early afternoon and removed them.

About 100 demonstrators took part in the protest near the prestigious university amid heavy police presence that were also guarding the university entrance to prevent students from setting up camp inside again.

Lorelia Frejo, a graduate student at the Sorbonne who joined a protest outside the university, said police used force to remove her peers from the courtyard. “They were peaceful and police took them out with no explanation,” Frejo said. But students, inspired by the protests at New York's Columbia University will remain steadfast despite police pressure, she added.

“They (Columbia protesters) are very strong and want to fight for justice and for peace in Palestine," Frejo said.

The Sorbonne occupies a unique place at the heart of French public and intellectual life. Last week, President Emmanuel Macron chose it as the venue to deliver a speech on his vision of Europe ahead of elections for the European Parliament in June.

Last week protests broke out at another elite university in the French capital region, the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, which counts Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal among its many famous alumni.

Tensions had broken out on campus as pro-Palestinian students inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States sought to occupy an amphitheater.

On Friday, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators faced each other in a tense standoff in the street outside the school. Riot police stepped in to separate the opposing groups.

The protest ended peacefully, when students agreed to evacuate the building late on Friday. The head of Sciences Po said an agreement with students had been reached.

AP writer Barbara Surk contributed from Nice, France.

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university with a huge Palestinian flag, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

A student flashes the V sign during a demonstration outside La Sorbonne university, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university with a huge Palestinian flag, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university with a huge Palestinian flag, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university with a huge Palestinian flag, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university with a huge Palestinian flag, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students stage a sit-in outside La Sorbonne university, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Students demonstrate outside La Sorbonne university, Monday, April 29, 2024 in Paris. About 100 Pro-Palestinian students demonstrate near the Sorbonne university in Paris. The demonstration came on the heels of protests last week at another Paris-region school, Sciences Po. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)