Trump loses third bid in three days to delay hush money trial: Live

Donald Trump has lost three last-ditch bids in three days to delay his hush money trial – with the landmark case looming in a matter of days.

On Wednesday, a New York appeals court judge rejected his latest effort to stall the case based on arguments of New York Justice Juan Merchan’s “refusal” to recuse himself or to hear Mr Trump’s argument of “presidential immunity”.

Jury selection is set to begin on Monday 15 April.

Meanwhile, Judge Aileen Cannon, overseeing Mr Trump’s criminal case over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, has sided with special counsel Jack Smith’s office and agreed that the names of government witnesses in the case should remain secret, due to concerns for their safety.

In other legal news, former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months at New York’s notorious Rikers Island prison after pleading guilty to perjury.

Outside the courtrooms, Mr Trump said on Wednesday that the Arizona court ruling outlawing abortion unless a patient’s life is in danger went too far. On Monday, he said that he wants states to decide on the issue of abortion rights.

Eric Garcia writes:

A new Axios/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed that just 41 per cent of Latinos have a favorable view of Biden. That number is slightly higher than Trump, who has an approval of 32 per cent among Latinos. Nevertheless, the devil is in the detail: Biden’s favorability rating has gone downward, while Trump’s has improved. In June of last year, Biden had a 47 per cent approval rating while Mr Trump came in low at 29 per cent.

Such numbers must be disappointing to the Biden campaign, considering officials have invested early and heavily in Latino outreach during this election cycle. The