Former US President Donald Trump deliberately delayed the date for the hush money trial - there is a strategy behind it. Fight for every piece of evidence.
Push for any possible delay. This approach has been successful so far in Trump's three other pending criminal cases and could cause all of them to last until the November presidential election or beyond. In a surprise move, the former president and presumptive Republican nominee will have his first court appearance in Manhattan, at a courthouse notorious for its long wait times for many criminal trials. The purpose of the payments, prosecutors said, was to hide from voters in 2016 allegations of an extramarital tryst with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump is also trying to denigrate his accusers — from New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to District Attorney Alvin Bragg to key witnesses like Cohen and Daniels. Here again, Trump differs from criminal defendants — in that his relentless denigration of the justice system and those involved in the prosecution appears to have increased polls and strengthened his base.