Trump handed yet another loss as appeals court smacks down latest delay tactic

Former President Donald Trump's latest demand to put the Manhattan hush money trial on hold was just smacked down.

According to the Associated Press, Trump was seeking to stay the trial, the first of his four criminal cases to go to court, while he tries to get the case moved out of Manhattan to another jurisdiction on the grounds that he can't get a fair jury pool there.

However, according to the report, Justice Marsha Michael "has once again denied a request by Trump’s attorneys to halt his criminal trial ... [she] issued the ruling just minutes after a brief hearing. The arguments in the midlevel appeals court came hours after the jury selection process concluded in Trump’s criminal trial, which is currently taking place roughly two miles south."

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The ruling clears the way for the criminal trial to continue as planned; a full jury and set of alternates has been confirmed as of Friday evening, and opening statements in the case, which centers on Trump's alleged illegal concealment of hush payments to an adult film star as a means to manipulate the presidential election in 2016, are expected to begin on Monday.

Contrary to Trump's claims, the jury selection process, which was unusually quick for a trial with this degree of national focus and political undertones, appears to have produced a politically diverse pool of jurors. One juror said she considered Trump "selfish" but added she could put her feelings aside to rule on him fairly; another juror actually alarmed some observers due to following Trump on his Truth Social platform, but also follows his former attorney and upcoming prosecution witness Michael Cohen, making it tough to pin down their politics