Trump’s hush money case and fraud trial collide in New York this week

Two judges in separate courtrooms just minutes down the street from one another could deal serious blows to Donald Trump, his business and his campaign schedule this week.

On Thursday, a judge in Manhattan criminal court will preside over a hearing that could set a course for the former president’s trial on charges stemming from hush-money payments to an adult film star during his 2016 campaign.

The judge overseeing a separate civil fraud trial that could imperil his family business and brand-building empire is also imminently expected to issue a final judgment in that case, with potentially tens of millions of dollars in sanctions and the end of his real estate career in New York at stake.

A court official told The Independent that a decision in that case would be due by mid-February. People familiar with the matter suggested to The New York Times that a decision would come one day after Mr Trump’s criminal court date.

The former president, meanwhile, likely won’t be in New York at all on Thursday. He’s reportedly planning to visit Atlanta to watch a hearing on misconduct allegations against the prosecutor leading a sprawling criminal case against him in Georgia – accusations that Mr Trump and his allies amplified in an effort to undermine the cases against him.

Mr Trump has relied on the growing stack of cases and court dates on his calendar – colliding with a primary election season as he seeks the Republican Party’s presidential nomination – to cast himself as a victim of “election interference” and political persecution, while his lawyers deny wrongdoing or attempt to claim “immunity” for anything he did as president.

It’s unlikely that a federal election conspiracy case against him will resume on 4 March, as