Donald Trump’s appeal to delay hush money trial rejected again by court

A New York appeals judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s third attempt this week to delay the April 15 criminal trial on charges of hush-money payments to porn stars, paving the way for the former US president’s first trial the way.

At an earlier hearing, Trump’s lawyer Emile Boff said the trial should be delayed because the judge overseeing the case, Juan Merchant, had not yet ruled on their request that he recuse himself.

Boff also said Merchant was wrong to deny their request to bar prosecutors from introducing into evidence Trump’s tweets from 2017-2021. Boff said presidential immunity should prevent prosecutors from introducing the posts into evidence.

“We plan to proceed with a trial that violates President Trump’s rights,” Boff said during the hearing before Associate Judge Ellen Geismer of the Appellate Division of the intermediate state appeals court.

Steven Wu, an attorney in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, said Trump’s lawyers made the requests too late.

“There is a strong public interest in ensuring that criminal trials continue,” Wu said.

Republican presidential candidate Trump is accused of covering up a $130,000 hush-money payment from his former lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels for his alleged 2006 affair with Trump ahead of the 2016 election. Generally speaking, sexual relations remain silent.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and has denied having any such contact with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

The silent review has yet to rule on Trump’s motion to recuse himself. The defense argued that the judge’s daughter’s work at a political consulting firm that provides services to Democratic clients constituted a conflict of interest.

An appeals court judge on Monday rejected Trump’s request to delay the case, while Trump challenged the holding of the trial in predominantly Democratic Manhattan.

On Tuesday, another judge denied his request to halt the trial while he appeals Murchin’s decision to impose a gag order that limits his ability to speak to potential witnesses, court staff, attorneys and the judge and district attorney. Public statements from Bragg’s family.

The appeals will still be heard by full juries.

The case is one of four criminal indictments Trump faces as he challenges Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 U.S. election rematch. He has sought to delay proceedings in all cases until after the election, with the hush-money case being the only one with a set trial date.

Other cases stem from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden and his handling of sensitive government documents after he leaves office in 2021. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.