Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he holds a campaign rally at Coastal Carolina University ahead of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary in Conway, South Carolina, U.S., February 10, 2024. /Reuters
A New York judge denied Donald Trump's request to dismiss criminal charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn start, paving the way for the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
Trump, 77, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 U.S. election, has asked Justice Juan Merchan to toss a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records to cover up the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
Ahead of the hearing, Trump repeated his claims that the case is politically motivated. "They wouldn't have brought this except for the fact - no way - except for the fact that I'm running for president and doing well," he said in a hallway outside the courtroom on Thursday.
The trial was scheduled to start on March 25, before the three other criminal cases Trump faces. Trump has pleaded not guilty.