N.Y. judge rejects Trump’s request to delay hush money trial [Video]

NEW YORK –

A New York appeals court judge on Monday rejected Donald Trump’s bid to delay his April 15 hush money criminal trial while he mounts a last-minute fight to move the case out of Manhattan, foiling the former president’s latest attempt to put off the historic trial.

Justice Lizbeth González of the state’s mid-level appeals court ruled after an emergency hearing Monday where Trump’s lawyers asked that she postpone the trial indefinitely while they seek a change of venue.

They contended the presumptive Republican nominee faces “real potential prejudice” in heavily Democratic Manhattan and said the jury pool has been polluted by news coverage of Trump’s other recent cases, including his US$454 million civil fraud judgment and the US$83.3 million he’s been ordered to pay for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. He is appealing both verdicts.

“Jury selection cannot proceed in a fair manner,” Trump lawyer Emil Bove argued, citing the …