By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump received some welcome legal news on a day that media seemed obsessed with adult film actress Stormy Daniels, a key figure in a criminal case against him.
Trump’s Florida trial for allegedly mishandling classified documents and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them has been pushed back indefinitely, U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon ruled Tuesday.
The ruling increased the chance that Trump’s ongoing New York criminal trial related to an alleged hush money payment to Daniels and other criminal charges may be the only one to happen before the November election.
The judge had initially set the Florida trial date for late May, but that has seemed unlikely for months, with Cannon still needing to make decisions on several key legal issues before a jury can hear the case, trial observers said.
At a scheduling hearing in Florida on March 1, Trump’s lawyers pushed to start the classified documents trial after the presidential election, in which he is the presumptive Republican nominee.
Prosecutors urged Cannon to pick a date in early July. If Trump returns to the Oval Office, he could appoint an attorney general willing to drop the federal charges against him, according to experts.
In addition, U.S. Justice Department policy forbids the criminal prosecution of a sitting president.
STORMY DAY
It came as good news for Trump on an otherwise stormy day in many ways: He was set to return to the stand Thursday following Stormy Daniels’ Tuesday in the New York hush money trial.
During the prosecution’s questioning, Daniels detailed her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.
She explained to the jury the $130,000 hush money payment from Trump’s ex-attorney, Michael Cohen, shortly before the 2016 election.
Cohen allegedly paid Daniels “so late” that she nearly canceled the agreement to remain silent about the affair.
She eventually received $96,000 after her lawyer and agent took their cut from the $130,000, Daniels explained.
Daniels said she hired a lawyer to get out of the deal after the media began asking questions. She
awkwardly read a social media post by Trump, in which he calls her “horse face.”
In a heated cross-examination, Trump’s lawyer tried to portray Daniels as a woman motivated by money and her hatred of Trump.
LAWYERS YELLING
At times, Daniels and Trump’s lawyer were nearly yelling at one another, reporters noticed.
Daniels hasn’t paid Trump $560,000 she owes after she sued him for defamation and lost. She said she does not intend to pay.
She was pressed by Trump’s attorneys on her credibility in multiple tense exchanges.
The hush money payment and how it was reimbursed to Cohen is at the heart of the charges.
Trump, who was in court as Daniels testified, has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and has denied the affair.
The judge denied a motion for a mistrial from the defense, who argued that Daniels’ explicit testimony went too far.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if Trump is convicted on five or more counts.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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