WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — It was a busy day for the former president and his lawyers as they fought legal battles in two different states. From New York to Georgia the cases against Donald Trump have him scrambling to balance the legal drama with his campaign for president.
On Thursday morning, Trump fumed outside of a New York court room.
“Instead of being in South Carolina and other states campaigning I’m stuck here,” Trump said.
His angry reaction came after a New York judge set a trial date of March 25th in the case accusing Trump of breaking campaign finance laws by paying hush money to cover up alleged affairs.
“I’m going to have to sit here for months on a trial. I think it’s ridiculous. It’s unfair,” Trump said.
At around the same time, hundreds of miles away in Atlanta, Georgia the fireworks were flying inside of the courtroom.
In a hearing, Trump’s legal team argued that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be kicked off of the case accusing Trump of election interference in Georgia. The lawyers want the judge to remove Willis because she hired Nathan Wade, a prosecutor they say she was romantically involved with.
Willis and Wade admit they had a relationship, but say it started after the case began.
Thursday’s hearing got heated when Willis took the stand to defend herself. At one point she shouted at the defense attorney questioning her, accusing her of making up details about the relationship.
“It is a lie! It is a lie!” Willis said.
The defense argues that Willis’s romantic relationship with Wade began earlier than they claim.
“It is highly offensive when someone lies on you and it’s highly offensive when they try to implicate that you slept with somebody the first day you met with them, and I take exception to it,” Willis said.
“Our relationship wasn’t a secret. It was just private,” Wade said.
The judge says he may remove Willis if he finds the relationship created a conflict of interest. That could delay the trial and would be a win for the former president who is criticizing all the cases for keeping him off of the campaign trail.
“They want to keep me nice and busy so I can’t campaign so hard,” Trump said.
Also, in Washington D.C., the Supreme Court is considering whether to pause the federal election interference case against Trump or whether to let that go to trial too.
Meanwhile this week a New York judge is expected to rule in a civil fraud case against Trump, which could leave him on the hook for millions of dollars in penalties.
