Blockbuster hearings set up Thursday split screen for Trump criminal cases

by Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee - 02/14/24 6:00 AM ET

Dueling hearings in former President Trump’s criminal cases Thursday are set to create a blockbuster, split-screen moment in his quest to fight a cascade of legal battles.

In New York, a judge will weigh Trump’s bid to toss his hush money case, the indictment that made the former real estate mogul the first former or current president in history to ever be criminally charged.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, lawyers for Trump and some of his co-defendants will attempt to seek the disqualification of the top prosecutors overseeing their election interference case after the duo’s alleged romantic relationship was exposed in court filings.

The simultaneous hearings in two of his four indictments mark the latest display of Trump’s legal woes colliding.

With the possibility that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) could testify herself in Georgia, Trump was reportedly mulling attending the hearing, which would have been the first time the former president appeared in the Atlanta courthouse for that case.

But Tuesday, Trump’s lead Georgia attorney indicated he would not travel to Georgia and instead go to the proceeding in New York, though Trump is known to change his plans at the last minute.

Trump has had a front-row seat at several of his court proceedings in recent months, even if he was not required to show up. His next stop will be at Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday for the hush money case, which legal observers have viewed as the least serious batch of charges he faces.

Many observers had also believed the hush money trial would take a backseat to allow Trump’s federal criminal cases — one involving federal election subversion charges and the other over his handling of classified documents — to first move ahead.

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But with the timeline in those cases slipping, the hush money trial is now positioned to potentially jump out in front and move ahead as scheduled March 25.

Determining that trial’s date is one of the most significant decisions expected to be made by Judge Juan Merchan on Thursday.

The proceeding itself is not expected to be livestreamed, but Trump may be able to speak to cameras outside the courtroom. When Trump attended his recent civil fraud trial, which took place down the street in the same court system, cameras were outside the courtroom, enabling Trump to regularly give impromptu remarks.

In Fulton County, however, cameras will be inside the courtroom, turned toward lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case as they attempt to prove to Judge Scott McAfee that Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade’s “personal relationship” should merit their disqualification from the case.

Trump co-defendant Michael Roman first surfaced the romantic allegations last month, asserting Willis hired her romantic partner to the case and has since benefited financially from his employment. The 2020 Trump campaign operative alleges Willis and Wade began their relationship before Wade’s hiring, which the district attorney’s office strongly refutes.

Defense attorneys’ star witness is Terrence Bradley, Wade’s former law partner who they say can testify to the prosecutors’ relationship over the years. If McAfee allows it, Willis, Wade, a slew of prosecutors with the district attorney’s office and even Willis’s father could also end up taking the stand.

Though the salacious topic of the hearing has drawn much attention, court watchers have warned that defense attorneys have a high bar to meet in proving their claims — and that Thursday’s hearing, beholden to the rules of evidence, might not make the expected splash.

“I think folks will be more bored with Thursday’s hearing in Fulton County than they think, in part, because there’s going to be a lot — and I mean a lot — of evidentiary fights,” Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University assistant law professor who has closely followed Trump’s Georgia case, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“What’s hearsay? What calls for speculation? What’s relevant? What’s privileged?” Kreis continued. “A lot of fits and starts.”

McAfee, the judge in Fulton County, vowed to keep the hearing “focused” and suggested he would not hesitate to stop the defense counsel from seeking “harassment or undue embarrassment” for the prosecutors.

Thursday’s events only add to a particularly chaotic week for Trump’s cases, with the former president’s legal team having asked the Supreme Court on Monday to keep his federal election subversion trial on pause as he appeals an immunity defense.

The same day, Trump was attending a proceeding in yet a different case, showing up to a sealed hearing in his classified documents matter.

And amid all of this, Trump is also awaiting a decision in his New York civil fraud case that could come down at any moment.

Tags Fani Willis Georgia indictment Nathan Wade Trump classified documents