The judge presiding over Donald Trump criminal case stated that he expects to move quickly, but analysts expect the case to linger and intersect with the 2024 presidential campaign due to the slow-moving New York court system and Trump’s habit to seek of delays in legal cases.
It will be months before the former president, who is seeking re-election, returns to court to face the 34 counts of fabricating corporate records in the indictment revealed this week.
Donald Trump Trial
Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney who managed the first criminal charges ever brought against a former American president, has urged for the trial to begin in January 2024. However, Trump’s attorneys, who are expected to submit a slew of motions challenging and otherwise delaying the case, stated that they needed until spring 2024 to prepare.
Judge Juan Merchan of the New York Supreme Court has yet to rule on the timing problem. Trump, a Republican, painted himself as the victim in a meandering and contentious address from his Palm Beach, Florida residence at the Mar-a-Lago club on Tuesday evening, accusing Democrats of spying on him and slamming Bragg and Merchan.
The timing of the New York criminal prosecution might place it in the thick of the US presidential election. The start of the trial in early 2024 would coincide with the Republican primary. Later on, it could clash with the Republican National Convention.
Political observers predict that Trump’s legal team will redouble its efforts to postpone proceedings until after the November election in order to limit any negative publicity and revelations.
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New York Election Laws
According to Jerry H. Goldfeder, director of the Fordham University School of Law’s voting rights and democracy project, Trump must still observe New York election regulations as a presidential candidate. Bragg claimed that he was not required to charge Trump separately on any election-related violations in order to prove that Trump intended to circumvent election laws by misrepresenting company records.
Trump has had a lengthy history of stalling in the court system. He has worked hard to exhaust his opponents in court and in the public eye, hoping that the cases against him will weaken with time.
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