As Donald Trump’s hush money trial resumes on Thursday and the U.S. Supreme Court hears quarrels in Washington regarding whether he should be spared from legal action for his actions as president, a reluctant lawyer may be present in a court in New York City on the same day. A former magazine publisher’s testimony will be heard in court, and Trump will have to decide whether he broke the judge’s gag order. However, he requested that he omit his criminal test for the day so that he could attend the high court’s special session, where the justices would decide whether or not he could face charges for his actions in reversing his election victory over Joe Biden in 2020.
Judge Juan Merchan, a judge in the New York state Supreme Court who is tasked with the prosecution of the hush money plan, denied that request, which was intended to stop damaging reports about Trump from appearing in the last days of the 2016 campaign.
A test in the New York Supreme Court is also a great deal, Merchan told Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche last week when he resisted the idea.” Asking before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can definitely understand why your client would want to be it, but a trial in that place is also a great deal,” Merchan said.
The proceedings on Thursday were jumbled together in a major legal and political puzzle that has implications for both the eventual Republican nominee and the entire United presidency, despite being 200 miles apart and in completely different cases.
Trump is trying to avoid legitimate risk in both cases as he makes another charge for the White House. However, the Supreme Court case’s outcome will have long-lasting effects on upcoming presidents because the justices may be responding to the never-asked question, “whether and how much does a former president enjoy political immunity from legal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve formal acts during his tenure in office,” if ever.
The high court’s decision does not affect the New York City circumstance, which hinges mainly on Trump’s do as a political candidate in 2016- not as a leader. In connection with hush money payments intended to stop embarrassing stories from coming out, he faces 34 felonies for falsifying business records. It is the first of four criminal cases brought before a jury against Trump.
After a scheduled day off, the New York trial will resume with more testimony from David Pecker, the first witness for the Manhattan District Attorney and a long-time Trump friend who pledged to be his “eyes and ears” during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Pecker and the tabloid used rumor-mongering to turn shady stories about Trump, including one alleged extramarital sexual encounter, into a porn actor’s testimony earlier this week, explaining how he and the tabloid used his connections to stifle his opponents.
Pecker traced the origins of their relationship to a 1980s meeting at Trump’s Mar- a- Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and said the friendship bloomed alongside the success of the real estate developer’s TV show” The Apprentice” and the program’s subsequent celebrity version.
Pecker recalled how he had arranged to buy the silence of a doorman and promised then-candidate Trump that he would help stop harmful stories.
Pecker said of the doorman’s story, which his publication later determined was n’t true,” I made the decision to purchase the story because of the potential embarrassment it had to the campaign and to Mr. Trump.”
Additionally, Judge Merchan may decide whether to hold Trump in contempt and punish him for breaking a gag order that forbids the GOP’s leader from releasing statements about witnesses, jurors, and other parties involved in the case.
One of Trump’s most recent online posts in question included a statement that described former prosecutor Michael Cohen as” sleazy bags” and Stormy Daniels as” sleazy bags” and another that repeated a false claim that liberal activists had attempted to infiltrate the jury.
Merchan criticized Blanche this week for allowing the posts as Trump was only responding to political attacks and making comments about his time working in the criminal justice system.
Merchan said,” When your client is violating the gag order, I expect more than one word.”
Trump would not be able to reclaim his position as president because the hush money probe was a state case, but he would not be able to pardon himself if found guilty. Although it’s unclear whether the judge would attempt to put him in jail or not, the charge is punishable by up to four years in prison.
The Supreme Court’s arguments, meanwhile, are related to charges in federal court in Washington, where Trump has been accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. The case stems from Trump’s attempts to have charges against him dismissed. He is unable to seek immunity for a violation of law that, according to prosecutors, unlawfully sought to interfere with the election results.
If the justices agree with lower courts that Trump can be prosecuted, the high court is moving more quickly than usual in taking the case, though not as quickly as special counsel Jack Smith desired. This raises questions about whether there will be time to hold a trial before the November election.
