Trump lawyers claim prosecutors want to ‘distract’ from hush money trial by ‘piling things on’ from other cases

Attorneys for Donald Trump told a judge overseeing the former president’s hush money trial on Friday that Manhattan prosecutors are merely trying to “distract” jurors and “pile things on” by introducing evidence from his string of other criminal and civil cases.

New York Justice Juan Merchan presided over a hearing to outline what prosecutors intend to ask Mr Trump if he choosesto testify at his criminal trial, including a defamation case and allegations of sexual abuse, a massive civil fraud judgment finding him liable for tens of millions of dollars, felony convictions targeting his business, and the dissolution of a namesake foundation used to boost his presidential campaign.

But the judge said that prosecutors’ request falls within the grounds of the so-called Sandoval hearing, during which a defendant with a history of misconduct or criminal acts who also plans to testify in his defence knows what they could be walking into.

Across his civil and criminal cases, Mr Trump’s legal team has tried to distance the former president from any allegations of wrongdoing.

Mr Trump has insisted he has done nothing wrong, and that the cases against him are a Democratic-led “election interference” conspiracy.

Judge Merchan will decide by Monday – when opening arguments in the hush money trial are expected to begin – on what materials prosecutors can use, if any, in an effort to undermine Mr Trump’s credibility on the stand.

Mr Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a so-called hush money scheme to pay off an adult film star to bury allegations of an alleged affair, a revelation that prosecutors claim posed a threat to his 2016 presidential election prospects.

The former president has