Judge Denies Donald Trump’s Request To Exclude Testimony From Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen

New York: According to ABC News, the judge supervising the criminal prosecution of former US President Donald Trump in New York has rejected Trump’s attempts to have the “Access Hollywood” tape and the testimony of important witnesses—such as adult film star Stormy Daniels and Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen—excluded from his upcoming criminal hush money trial in New York.

Amidst the legal procedures, the defence team contended that Michael Cohen shouldn’t be permitted to provide a statement due to his past history of lying. They further said that inviting him to testify would be tantamount to encouraging perjury. Judge Juan Merchan, however, disregarded the defense’s position, as reported by ABC News.

“The defendant’s argument that a certain witness should not be allowed to testify because his credibility has been questioned in the past is not supported by any treatise, statute, or ruling from this jurisdiction or any other,” Merchan said.

Due to the fact that Stormy Daniels received the USD 130,000 hush money, the judge will also allow her to testify. According to ABC News, Merchan wrote, “The probative value of the evidence is evident.”

He declined to remove the audio clip from “Access Hollywood” when Trump is heard boasting about his approach to women. Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York has been postponed until at least the middle of April.

Following the delivery of fresh evidence to the parties, the judge presiding over the “hush money” trial of former US President Donald Trump postponed it by 30 days last week, according to The Hill. Trump’s first criminal trial was scheduled to begin on March 25 with jury selection. But when the prosecution agreed to a one-month postponement, Judge Juan Merchan decided to postpone the trial.

The parties informed the court that the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York had just handed over over 70,000 pages of documents, some of which were pertinent to the case. This led to the court’s ruling.

According to The Hill, Judge Juan Merchan said that he would postpone the trial date for thirty days and that a hearing would take place on March 25 to go over the schedule and the newly discovered papers.

Merchan wrote, “This Court’s directive that the parties, including the defendant, not engage in or otherwise enter into any commitment pending completion of this trial remains in effect. The Court will set the new trial date, if necessary, when it rules on the defendant’s motion following the hearing.”