Trump’s Hush-Money Trial Will Start in the Middle of Presidential Primaries

A judge tentatively set a trial date of March 25, 2024 for the New York criminal case against former President Donald Trump, who appeared via video link in a Manhattan courtroom for a brief hearing on Tuesday. The hearing came exactly seven weeks after Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, charges that stem from his role in an alleged hush-money scheme to cover up a potential sex scandal ahead of his 2016 presidential campaign. With a start date of March 25, his trial would land less than three weeks after Super Tuesday, placing the bulk of it squarely in the middle of the 2024 presidential primaries. The primary purpose of Tuesday’s hearing was to allow Judge Juan Merchan to review the terms of a protective order barring Trump from sharing evidence on social media. Merchan explained that the directive “is not a gag order,” and that the former president will be “free to campaign and do anything that does not violate the order.”