Chris Crucial: Donald Trump is going to trial

PLUS: Lisa Murkowski, former Republican?

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1. A Trump trial is happening!: It’s official — Donald Trump is going on trial.

On Monday, Judge Juan Merchan rejected Trump’s attempts to delay his trial regarding hush money payments made in the run-up to the 2016 election to two women alleging they had extramarital affairs with the billionaire businessman.

“You are literally accusing the Manhattan D.A.’s office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct and trying to make me complicit in it,” Merchan told Trump’s lawyers, a seeming reference to the former president’s repeated accusations about bias from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

With Merchan’s ruling, the trial is now set to begin April 15. Which will be a major moment in history — the first time a former president has ever gone to trial on criminal charges.

Following the ruling, Trump held a press conference — bashing the whole proceeding (as well as the other three indictments he faces) as election interference.

“I don’t know how you can have a trial that is going on right in the middle of the election,” Trump said. “It’s not fair.”