'Documents don't lie': Legal experts applaud Manhattan DA’s 'powerful' case against Trump

This week brought more than one bombshell in former President Donald Trump's legal problems.

During an evidentiary hearing in an Atlanta courtroom, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified on her romantic relationship with fellow prosecutor Nathan Wade — forcefully arguing that it was a distraction from the reason for the RICO prosecution: Trump and his allies' efforts to "steal an election."

Meanwhile, in Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg Jr.'s hush money payments case, Judge Juan Merchan confirmed that jury selection will begin on March 25.

On top of all that, Justice Arthur Engoron is expected to announce his verdict in New York State Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud lawsuit against Trump on Friday.

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Trump has been juggling his 2024 presidential campaign and his court appearances. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche, hoping for the trial in Bragg's case to be delayed, told Merchan, "As the court is aware, we are in the middle of primary season."

But the judge was adamant, describing March 25 as a "date certain" and telling Blanche, "You don't have a trial date in Georgia. You don't have a trial date in Florida” — therefore there are no other legal proceedings that would stop the New York case from going forward.

Salon's Areeba Shah notes that Merchan's announcement "sets the stage for the first-ever prosecution of a former American president."

Bragg and the Manhattan DA's office allege that the Trump Organization's business records were falsified when hush money payments were made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade, a frequent legal analyst for MSNBC, told Salon, "Documents are powerful evidence because documents don't lie and documents don't forget."

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According to Syracuse University law professor Gregory Germain, Bragg has "strong evidence" that the Trump Organization tried to "disguise" hush money payments to Daniels as fees to Michael Cohen — Trump's former personal attorney and fixer.

Germain told Salon, "Whether covering up a personal matter constitutes felony criminal conduct is a larger question of law that will likely be resolved by the appellate courts."

California-based attorney James DeSimone applauds Merchan for telling Blanche that the trial in Bragg's case will go forward on March 25 regardless of Trump's presidential campaign.

DeSimone told Salon, "It's a sign that other judges will hold firm and uphold the law when the same push to delay the trial is brought to their courts."