Trump faces a crucial day in his hush-money trial, and a deadline to post bond

Andrea Bernstein

March 25, 2024 / 2:00 am

caption: Former President Donald Trump could learn Monday when his hush-money trial will begin. He also faces a deadline to post his $454 billion bond or risk having his assets seized.

Former President Donald Trump faces a pivotal day in New York on Monday: A criminal court judge will hold a hearing and could set a trial date in the hush-money case. Separately, the New York attorney general could move to seize one or more of his properties to satisfy a judgment in a civil fraud case.

This, as Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is running against the man who defeated him in 2020, President Biden. Trump's legal troubles are entwined with both the 2020 and the 2016 campaigns: He faces state and federal charges related to trying to overturn the results in 2020. He also faces federal charges related to his handling of classified documents.

Trump is accused of multiple counts of falsifying business records to keep an alleged affair secret at the end of the 2016 campaign. Although his criminal trial in New York is perhaps relatively less serious in scale, it would a historic first trial against a sitting or former president.

During the 2016 campaign, Michael Cohen, then Trump's personal attorney, learned that Stormy Daniels, the adult film actor, was planning to go public with news of an alleged affair with the real-estate mogul. This was potentially damaging for Trump given that it came soon after the release of the Access Hollywood tape was released where Trump talked about grabbing women's genitals because "when you're a star they let you do it."

Cohen, who has since turned against Trump, has said he didn't think the campaign could withstand another blow of this kind. Consequently, he set up an LLC to pay Daniels to keep quiet. Trump allegedly agreed to a scheme to pay Cohen back by calling the reimbursements a "legal retainer," which they were not — a felony if District Attorney Alvin Bragg can prove Trump falsified the records to cover up another crime: making an illegal payment to benefit his campaign, in this case, the hush-money payments.

Jury selection in the trial was scheduled to start Monday, but federal prosecutors released more than 100,000 documents that could be related to the case. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, called that release malfeasance, though Bragg says the documents help his case against Trump.

Judge Juan Merchan is expected to announce Monday if he'll keep to his current trial date, April 15. If the trial proceeds, Trump could sitting in a courtroom day after day while running for president and while a jury decides on whether he could be imprisoned.

Separately, Monday is the deadline for Trump to make a $454 million bond payment related to his civil fraud trial related to his business practices. If he doesn't, New York Attorney General Letetia James could — as she has promised — start seizing Trump properties.

Last week Trump argued to an appeals court that a bond to cover that amount was "a practically impossibility," because he doesn't have the cash to guarantee it right now. An appeals appeals court decision is pending.