Former President Donald Trump's New York criminal trial on hush money-related charges will begin on April 15, a judge ruled Monday, rejecting his lawyers' bid for further delay.
Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business documents tied to the repaying of former fixer Michael Cohen for hush-money payments made before the 2016 election to cover up Trump's alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The former president has pleaded not guilty and repeatedly denied having an affair.
Trump and his lawyers were in court Monday to request postponement of the trial to have more time to review documents, but Judge Juan Merchan rejected the argument, scheduling jury selection to begin on April 15.
Speaking to reporters in court, Trump vowed to appeal the ruling, as he blasted the prosecution as a "disgrace" and repeated long-running allegations that he's being prosecuted for political reasons as he seeks reelection to the White House as the presumptive Republican nominee.
The ruling came less than an hour after a Trump victory in another ongoing New York case.
A New York appeals court ruled that Trump had 10 days to come up with $175 million bond as he appeals his civil fraud case - rather than the more than $454 million he was previously ordered to post by Monday.
