What’s at stake in Trump’s hush-money criminal case? Judge to rule on key issues as trial date nears

By MICHAEL R. SISAK
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is expected in court for an important hearing in his New York hush-money criminal case, which now appears increasingly likely to go to trial next month. Judge Juan Manuel Merchan is expected to rule Thursday on key pretrial issues and say for certain if the former president’s trial will begin as scheduled on March 25. If that happens, the New York case will be the first of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial. The recent postponement of a March 4 trial date in Trump’s Washington, D.C. election interference case cleared the way for the hush-money trial to start on time. Trump’s lawyers have asked Merchan to dismiss the case entirely.