‘A Dead Loser from the Get-Go’: CNN Legal Analyst Shreds Trump’s Rejected Delay Tactic

Former President Donald Trump was handed a defeat by a New York appellate judge who denied his bid to delay the start of his criminal trial in the state.

He is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in what Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said was the former president’s attempt to cover up hush money payments meant to conceal extramarital affairs. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Judge Lizabeth Gonzalez ruled on Monday that Trump’s trial will proceed as planned with jury selection beginning on April 15, dealing a fatal blow to his efforts to delay the case and seek a change of venue.

Appearing on Monday’s episode of The Situation Room on CNN, network legal analyst Norm Eisen offered his reaction, noting that he predicted Trump would attempt to delay via this method.

“It’s known as a Section 230 motion,” he said. “You go directly to the appellate court, not the trial judge. You say, ‘Hey, too much pretrial publicity. Move this case.’ Of course, he was going to try it by my count. It’s his ninth delay tactic.”

Eisen added that Trump has only himself to blame for the bulk of the publicity surrounding the trial. The former president has, for example, repeatedly attacked Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the case. He has also attacked the judge’s daughter, prompting Merchan to issue an expanded gag order.

“But it wasn’t going to work because Donald Trump himself is responsible for so much of the pretrial publicity,” Eisen continued. “The judge also released a very detailed juror questionnaire today where jurors are going to be asked about dozens of potential sources of knowledge about the case. And using that questionnaire, and then interrogating the jurors in that courtroom is how you will screen for bias, not moving the case. It was a dead loser from the get-go.”

Watch above via CNN.