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UPDATE: Several hours after lawyers for former President Donald Trump filed motions to delay the start of his hush money criminal trial, a New York Appeals Court rejected the motion.
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Lawyers for Donald Trump are attempting to delay the first-ever criminal case against a former president in a last-ditch effort before the trial begins next week.
Trump is facing 34 counts of business fraud relating to hush money payments made to a pair of models during the 2016 presidential campaign. Jury selection is currently scheduled to begin on April 15.
Trump's lawyers asked the New York Appellate Division to delay the trial while they appeal a partial gag order placed on Trump by Juan Merchan. They also argued that the trial should be moved to a different venue because it would be unfair to host it in New York City, where Trump is extremely unpopular.
Prosecutors responded to the filings by noting that similar arguments had been rejected by the court months ago.
"[Trump] predominantly repeats the same arguments that he made in his first recusal motion more than ten months ago and that this court previously considered and rejected," they said in response.
Trump also tried a similar tactic in his civil fraud case, which was rejected by the courts.