A New York appeals court judge on Tuesday rejected the latest bid by former US president Donald Trump to delay his hush money criminal trial, a week before jury selection was set to start.
Mr Trump’s lawyers had wanted the trial postponed indefinitely while he fights a gag order that bars him from commenting about jurors, witnesses and others connected to the hush money case.
Justice Cynthia Kern’s ruling is yet another loss for Mr Trump, who has tried repeatedly to get the trial postponed.
Barring further action, the decision means the first of Mr Trump’s four criminal trials will start as scheduled on April 15th.
Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he falsified business records to hide the true nature of payments made in connection with a scheme to suppress damaging stories about him during his 2016 presidential campaign.
It is the second of back-to-back days for Mr Trump’s lawyers in the appeals court.
On Monday, Associate Justice Lizbeth Gonzalez rejected the defence’s request to delay the April 15th trial while Mr Trump seeks to move his case out of heavily Democratic Manhattan.
