Former President Trump was back a New York courtroom Monday as his lawyers battled with the state over new documents turned over in Trump’s hush money case.
Simultaneously, during a brief break in that hearing, a New York appeals court temporarily stopped the clock on the looming enforcement of a multimillion-dollar judgment against Trump and his company over deceitful business practices in a dueling day of major court matters for the former president.
Monday was supposed to be the day the hush money trial began, but a surprise development delayed the trial. Judge Juan Merchan instead held a hearing to sort out the blame game over the new documents and mull Trump’s contention that an additional delay is warranted, which sometimes grew contentious.
RELATED: Trump’s hush money case set for critical hearing over document dump
Follow below for live updates on Trump’s court matters Monday.
Trump fumed over his legal troubles after a New York judge scheduled an April 15 start date for his hush money trial despite Trump’s efforts to postpone the case.
Trump, speaking down the street from the Manhattan courthouse after the judge’s ruling, railed against the 2016 hush money case and his legal problems more broadly as a matter of “election interference” that should not be allowed during a campaign season.
“I don’t know how you can have a trial that’s going on right in the middle of an election. Not fair. Not fair. It’s not fair at all,” he said, calling the cases against him “ridiculous” and “a shame.”
Read more about Trump’s reaction after another day in court.
— Brett Samuels
The hearing in Trump’s hush money case has concluded Monday, right after the judge rejected any further delays being requested by Trump’s team.
He set a trial date to begin April 15.
The hearing adjourned in New York around 12:16 p.m.
— Lauren Sforza
Trump railed against the hush money case after the trial was set to begin with jury selection on April 15.
“This is a pure case of voter intimidation and election interference. And it shouldn’t be allowed to happen,” Trump told reporters gathered outside the courtroom.
Trump claimed the case was brought against him during the 2024 election “so that I won’t be able to campaign. And we’ll be appealing this.”
— Brett Samuels
A New York judge scheduled former President Trump’s hush money trial to begin April 15, enabling his first criminal trial to still take place this spring after a last-minute delay.
Trump, who has looked to postpone all four of his criminal cases, requested the judge punt the trial for at least two additional months over new documents that were recently turned over.
— Zach Schonfeld and Lauren Sforza
Trump, his legal team and the attorneys for the prosecutors have now returned to the courtroom.
The hearing resumed at about 12:08 p.m.
— Lauren Sforza
An appeals court said Monday that Trump could now owe a fraction of the $454 million judgment he faces in the New York fraud case, a separate matter from the hush money hearing taking place Monday.
Right as the hush money hearing broke, a New York appeals court on Monday temporarily stopped the clock on the looming enforcement of a multimillion-dollar judgment against former President Trump and his company over deceitful business practices.
In a terse order, a state appeals court panel said it would pause the enforcement of the $464 million judgment against Trump, the Trump Organization and top executives, plus interest, if within 10 days they post a $175 million bond.
— Ella Lee
The hearing broke for about 45 minutes beginning at 11:15 a.m.
— Lauren Sforza
Merchan is continuing to go back and forth with Trump attorney Todd Blanche, sounding skeptical he will rule in Trump’s favor that prosecutors violated their discovery obligations.
Blanche has argued that the district attorney’s office was required to previously have obtained the documents newly turned over by the U.S. attorney’s office in recent weeks.
“It’s not our job to get it,” Blanche said of the new documents.
“It’s not the people’s job either,” Merchan responded.
— Zach Schonfeld
Judge Juan Merchan got heated with Trump attorney Todd Blanche after the judge asked him to cite a singular past case holding the district attorney’s office is obligated to have had the documents from the U.S. attorney’s office previously.
“If you don’t have a case right now is really disconcerting because the allegations the defense makes in all of your papers, about the people’s misconduct, is an incredibly serious, unbelievably serious,” Merchan said, raising his voice.
“You’re literally accusing the Manhattan DA’s office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct and trying to make me complicit in it. And you don’t have a single cite to support that position?”
— Zach Schonfeld
Matthew Colangelo, one of several prosecutors in the case, said that prosecutors have estimated there are about 300 documents that are new and relevant to the case.
“Our assessment is that the number of relevant, usable new documents is quite small. Our analysis is ongoing, but I think we have a pretty refined understanding and our current sense is it is in the neighborhood of 300 or fewer records,” Colangelo said.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s attorney, pushed back, instead arguing that there are “thousands and thousands” of documents and that the number continues to grow.
—Lauren Sforza
Judge Juan Merchan lambasted Trump’s attorneys for making arguments beyond the scope of Monday’s hearing.
“Defendant’s affirmation, timeline and exhibits went far afield from the clearly stated purpose of this hearing,” Merchan said.
The judge had said he would only discuss the documents from the U.S. attorney’s office and not Trump’s other allegations of discovery violations.
After reviewing the new documents, Merchan also said he doesn’t feel there are major factual issues to resolve.
“After doing so, this court is of the opinion there are really not significant questions of fact to be resolved. The facts are what they are, and the exhibits support that,” he said.
— Zach Schonfeld
Trump offered brief remarks as he arrived at the courthouse, calling the proceedings a “witch hunt” and a “hoax.”
He did not stop to talk to reporters beyond those comments.
— Brett Samuels
The hearing began at about 10:05 a.m.
— Lauren Sforza
Trump has arrived at the Manhattan courtroom where the hearing is taking place, adding to the former president’s recent string of court appearances.
In recent months, Trump has increasingly sat in for various proceedings in his legal entanglements.
Monday’s hearing will be Trump’s 11th day in court this year.
— Zach Schonfeld