The jury selection for Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, despite his 11th attempt to postpone it on Wednesday failing.
Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer, a Manhattan appellate court, denied Trump’s plea for a delay, citing the unresolved status of numerous defense matters, including the judge’s desire to disqualify himself.
In state court in Manhattan, Trump, the presumed Republican nominee for president, will today face the first of four ongoing felony trials, barring any more wrangling by his legal team.
Prosecutors claim that he fabricated 34 company documents in order to conceal a $130,000 hush-money payment that, just 11 days before the country’s vote, silenced porn star Stormy Daniels and affected the 2016 election.
Trump made his third attempt to halt the trial in as many days on Wednesday when he traveled to an appellate court in Manhattan for succinct but sincere arguments from both sides.
According to the prosecution, this is his eleventh attempt altogether. He made only one successful attempt, which only postponed the start date by three weeks.
In an attempt to delay jury selection, Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove contended that two defense motions were still pending before state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, the trial judge, could make a decision.
A defense motion that has not yet been decided asks Merchan to step down from the case.
Merchan’s recent decision that no party may submit a new pretrial motion without first requesting authorization in writing in the form of a one-page letter is being contested by the other defense motion.
Bove also stated that a postponement is required to allow the defense to file an appeal against Merchan’s ruling about presidential immunity.
Steven Wu, an appeal attorney, countered on behalf of the prosecution, arguing that the defense is launching its case too late.
He claimed that Trump’s attorneys had “inundated the court with belated filings,” and that “they could have filed this at any time.”
On Tuesday, Trump failed his tenth plea to postpone the trial at the Manhattan appeal court.
In that same courthouse on Monday, he lost his ninth bid.