Seoul Gazette - Trump 'hush money' trial set for April 15, bond amount slashed

A New York state appeals court slashed a potentially crippling $454 million bond payment due on Monday to $175 million and gave the former president 10 extra days to pay.

The Republican presidential candidate got the unexpectedly positive news about his New York civil fraud case while he was sitting in court for another case -- a hearing in his upcoming criminal trial over paying hush money to a porn star.

Judge Juan Merchan rejected demands from Trump's lawyers to delay the first ever criminal trial of a former president for at least 90 days and ordered jury selection to begin on April 15.

Trump faces charges of falsifying business records for the payments made on the eve of the 2016 presidential election to make sure porn star Stormy Daniels did not publicize a sexual encounter.

"You are literally accusing the Manhattan (District Attorney's) office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct and trying to make me complicit in it," a visibly exasperated Merchan told Trump's attorneys during the hearing in a Manhattan courtroom.

Trump had also been facing a Monday deadline to pay the huge original bond pending an appeal against a judge's decision that he is liable for fraudulently conspiring to inflate his net worth.

Trump made clear he was unable to find the $454 million and he risked seeing New York state confiscate parts of his property empire if he failed to come up with the bond.

- 'Rigged cases' -

The 77-year-old Trump welcomed the appellate panel ruling while denouncing the hush money case as "election interference" and a "witch hunt."

"I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division and I will post $175 million in cash and bonds or security or whatever is necessary, very quickly, within the 10 days," he told reporters.

The hush money trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday but was delayed because thousands of pages of potential evidence were belatedly produced by prosecutors.

On Truth Social, Trump denounced both cases as a politically motivated attack ahead of the November 5 presidential election when he will likely again face incumbent Democrat Joe Biden.

"These are Rigged cases, all coordinated by the White House and DOJ for purposes of Election Interference," Trump wrote. "No crime. Our Country is CORRUPT!"

Trump regularly rails against a judicial system he claims is "fixed" against him.

He has said that New York Attorney General Letitia James -- who is Black -- is "racist," and accused Judge Arthur Engeron in the civil fraud case of being "crooked."

Trump got some positive financial news last week when it was announced that Truth Social would finally go public through a merger, a transaction that could net him billions of dollars.

He cannot tap into the funds for six months, but it potentially could help him secure the bond.

However, in case of non-payment, James could still order a freeze on his bank accounts, or move to seize some of his New York properties.

- Seeking more delays -

Trump's lawyers have pursued every avenue to delay his many trials -- if possible until after the presidential vote.

In the trial involving Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, Trump is accused of illegally using campaign funds to secure her silence about an alleged sexual encounter back in 2006.

If she'd spoken out, the fallout could have been ruinous for Trump's presidential hopes, coming right on the heels of another scandal over the married businessman's boasting, caught on tape, that as a celebrity he was freely able to "grab" women by their genitals.

Trump also faces charges of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election and for holding on to classified documents after leaving the White House.

L.Jeong--SG