Trump Faces Critical Hearings Ahead Of Criminal Trials

Donald Trump returned to court in Manhattan on Thursday where he is seeking to dismiss charges of covering up hush money payments that lie at the heart of what could be the first criminal trial of a former US president.

At the same time, his lawyers will attend a separate hearing in Atlanta, pushing to have the lead prosecutor bringing charges of election fraud and racketeering against Trump disqualified from the case.

They are two of four criminal cases facing the Republican frontrunner as he campaigns to retake the White House, with his legal teams seeking a delay of the actual trials until after the November 5 vote.

Trump, who has seized on the media attention of his legal woes to publicly denounce the charges as well as Democratic opponent Joe Biden, arrived at the New York courthouse shortly before 9:00 am (1400 GMT).

Aside from the request for dismissal, procedural matters will also be addressed before Judge Juan Merchan, including whether the trial will begin on March 25 as scheduled.

That date could change owing to scheduling conflicts with Trump's other criminal cases.

If Merchan rejects Trump's bid to quash the case, the former president will face a jury on 34 counts of accounting fraud linked to payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Prosecutors say that Trump illegally covered up remittances to his longtime lawyer and aide, Michael Cohen, to reimburse him for payments to bury stories about Trump's alleged extramarital sexual relations with Daniels and a Playboy model.

Trump said on his Truth Social platform Thursday morning that he was "heading to yet another Courthouse in Manhattan on a case that would have never been brought if I wasn't running" for president.

Trump's lawyers will also be representing him in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is accused of conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost to Biden.

That hearing seeks to have the District Attorney Fani Willis dismissed from the case over an alleged relationship with another prosecutor.

Trump's legal rollercoaster could continue on Friday if, as US media have reported, a ruling is issued in his civil fraud trial, in which he is accused of grossly inflating his property's values.

In that case he risks having to pay up to $370 million and faces a ban from conducting business in New York state.

And he also faces another possible trial alleging conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election in Washington.

Trump has used the numerous legal woes to fire up his supporters,

co-opting the charges to fuel his claims of being victimized as he campaigns for a return to the White House.

The hush money case dates to the closing days of the 2016 election when Trump was on the cusp of his shock win as a political outsider against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

A New York grand jury indicted Trump in March 2023 over the payments made to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Prosecutors say the money was paid to silence Daniels over claims she had a tryst with Trump in 2006 -- a year after he married Melania Trump.

Late in the campaign, Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen arranged a payment of $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for her pledge of confidentiality.

Trump for years rejoiced in his reputation as a playboy but he denied the affair with Daniels, which would have occurred just after Melania, his third wife, gave birth.