This Tuesday, another appeals court judge in New York rejected another attempt by former President Donald Trump and his team to put Trump’s criminal trial scheduled for this month in New York City on hold.
This time, the Trump team was seeking a delay in tandem with their fight against a gag order recently imposed on Trump by presiding Judge Juan Merchan, who is set to handle trial. The quickly expanded order blocks a range of public attacks on targets including witnesses, jurors (both prospective and actual), and family members of a list including the judge, district attorney, and others. Merchan expanded the order to that last category after Trump began publicly going after the judge’s daughter for her purported political activities, looping the woman — who is not involved in the case — into his familiar accusations of bias against him.
“Trump’s lawyers had wanted the trial delayed until a full panel of appellate court judges could hear arguments on lifting or modifying a gag order that bans him” from making that range of public attacks, the Associated Press reported. Cynthia Kern on New York’s state judiciary rejected this entreaty.
The prior day (meaning on Monday), a different judge had rejected another push from the Trump team to put the trial on hold in tandem with their attempts to secure a venue change, meaning a change in where the scheduled trial actually takes place. Notably, Trump himself has likely furthered — in very explicit, direct terms — any animosity against him as a person that might come up (but can be dealt with) during upcoming jury selection. He and his allies routinely include the city in their existential criticisms of American big cities, characterizing the locale and its counterparts as sites of decay.
The trial against Trump in New York will be his first criminal proceedings, airing allegations against the former president of falsifying business records in connection with the widely reported hush money from before the 2016 elections for Stormy Daniels, who allegedly had an affair with Trump.
