A chunk of Trump’s hush money 'case is happening in the dark': report

21 April 2024

Donald Trump's first criminal trial — for his New York hush money case — is underway, having solidified all 12 jurors last week, ahead of opening arguments starting Monday, April 22.

Although the trial has been at the forefront of the news cycle, according to Politico's Kyle Cheney and Erica Orden, what many can't see, is that a slew of outdated rules and systems have "made it virtually impossible for the media — and the public — to access key motions and pretrial rulings in real time."

The state's "docketing practices have not been updated for the digital age," the Politico reporters add, and presiding Judge Juan Merchan "has imposed policies that force days or even weeks of delays before crucial documents become public. When they do, they have been subject to a heavy, court-imposed redaction process."

Cheney and Orden emphasize "one of the most consequential chapters of American history is being drafted with missing pages and invisible ink" as a result.

However, the reporters note:

Prosecutors don’t see it that way. They told Merchan that Trump’s 'flurry of recent filings' demonstrated the need for the extra step of seeking permission. They objected to Trump’s request to make public all email traffic between the judge and the lawyers, saying there is 'no legal requirement' to do so and noting, days before the trial had been set to start, that the court system 'recently began posting the Court’s substantive orders.'

And they opposed changing the redaction process, writing that the 'streamlined procedures have effectively reduced the risk of disclosing protected information in this high-profile case' and provide 'reasonably timely public access to appropriately redacted documents.'

'The redaction procedures,' they wrote, 'have thus caused no unnecessary delay.'

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche became frustrated with the system last week after the judge enforced "stringent new restrictions on the filing of new motions — a clear effort to slow the barrage of motions Trump’s lawyers had been submitting to try to delay the case on the eve of trial," Politico reports.

Two letters Blanche filed seeking "clarity about the trial schedule" and "raising concerns about jury selection" are not available to the public, Cheney and Orden note.

"It’s not working," the Trump lawyer said, insisting that "the 'obvious' problems with the process had been further exacerbated by the start of trial, when matters tend to move quicker and with more urgency."

Merchan remained unmoved.

In response to Blanche's complaints, Politico reports "Merchan countered with a swipe at Trump’s legal strategy, noting that his decision to implement the 'pre-motion' process was because 'we were being absolutely inundated with motions, most of which, frankly, were close to frivolous, if not frivolous.'"

The judge commented, "As you know, as you have limited resources, the court has limited resources, and therefore the court in order to manage its docket implemented that policy."

Politico's full report is here.

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