The upcoming week is very important and busy for the former President Trump's legal issues, especially the court battles for the presumptive GOP nominee.
Last week, a jury was chosen for the New York hush money trial, which is getting a lot of attention.
Besides the hush money trial, the former president will be in court for a potential gag order related to that trial and a fight about the bond he posted in a separate civil fraud case in New York.
Especially significant, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about Trump's immunity claims this week.
Here's what's on Trump's court calendar for this week.
Start of hush money trial
The judge in New York expects the opening statements to start on Monday for the hush money trial after the jury and alternates were officially sworn in. Both sides' lawyers will make their opening statements before prosecutors present their case against the former president, trying to convince the jury that he falsified business records with the intention of committing fraud or another crime. last week.
Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made by his ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to hide an alleged affair with Trump before the 2016 election.
The jury selection process took four days as lawyers narrowed down the prospective juror pool. The trial is expected to take at least six weeks from jury selection.
The court will have shortened hours on Monday and Tuesday due to Passover, but will still meet for its four regularly scheduled trial dates this week.
Hearing on Trump’s $175 million bond in civil fraud case
Trump also has a hearing on Monday related to his $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case.
The New York attorney general’s office asked Judge Arthur Engoron to cancel the bond because they argue that Trump and his co-defendants failed to prove that the surety company has the money to cover it.
Engoron will hear arguments on the bond Monday from Trump’s lawyers for his civil fraud case and lawyers with the New York attorney general’s office. The bond allows Trump’s team to appeal a multimillion-dollar judgment without the state Attorney General's office collecting it. Gag order hearing in hush money case
A hearing about Trump’s silence command will happen on Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. Last week, the prosecutors requested Merchan something. to punish the ex-president
$3,000 because Trump broke the silence command. Merchan did not make a decision immediately, but scheduled a hearing for April 23.
Chris Conroy, an Assistant District Attorney, mentioned that some recent posts on Truth Social by the ex-president disobeyed the silence command.
The posts targeted potential witnesses in the hush money case, like Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen.
Trump’s legal team argued that these posts did not disobey the silence command, claiming that Trump was “responding to salacious, repeated, vehement attacks by these witnesses.”
Trump's arguments for immunity at SCOTUS The Supreme Court will discuss whether Trump can be criminally prosecuted for his alleged actions to overturn his 2020 re-election loss. Earlier this year, the high court agreed to consider Trump’s immunity arguments in a case related to election interference by special counsel Jack Smith which has been put on hold.
His immunity claims have been turned down by Trump’s trial judge and a three-judge panel from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The judge said last week that Trump is required to be present at his hush money trial unless he gets special permission to skip.
The judge indicated that Trump will be present next week.
So far, Trump’s immunity claims have been denied.
Trump’s immunity claims have been rejected by Trump’s trial judge and a three-judge panel from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump was not allowed to attend the arguments on presidential immunity on Thursday. This week, the focus will be on the legal issues faced by the former President Trump. Trump must attend the entirety of his hush money trial under New York state law unless he receives special permission to skip.
“I will see him here next week,” the judge said.