Donald Trump’s criminal trial over hush money payments to porn stars ahead of the 2016 US election will begin no earlier than April, after a judge on Friday granted a 30-day delay over delays in disclosing evidence to the former president. sky.
Judge Juan Merchan’s decision to delay the first criminal trial of the former US president marks another victory for Trump as he prepares to challenge Joe Biden in the November 5 presidential election Joe Biden has been trying to slow down the proceedings in various legal disputes as he takes office.
The case, originally scheduled to be heard in New York State Court in Manhattan on March 25, was the first of four criminal indictments filed against Trump last year.
While none of the other three cases have set trial dates, delays in the New York trial could complicate scheduling for the others.
In a written ruling, Merchant did not announce a firm new trial date for the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.
Instead, the judge will hold a hearing on March 25, after which he may set a trial date further in the future.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the New York case, alleging that his former lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels. The reason was Daniels’ silence about what she said was a sexual encounter a decade ago.
Trump has denied having any such contact with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, which has previously investigated Cohen’s payments to Daniels, this month disclosed more than 100,000 pages of documents related to Cohen in response to a subpoena from Trump’s defense team.
Trump’s lawyers said they needed to delay the trial for 90 days to review the materials. Bragg agreed to a 30-day delay.
Bragg’s office said Friday that many of the documents turned over by federal prosecutors are irrelevant and therefore not part of the request it made to the U.S. Attorney’s Office last year.
But Trump’s lawyers have accused Bragg of trying to prevent them from obtaining potentially damaging information about Cohen, who is expected to be a key prosecution witness in the trial.
Moqian asked attorneys from both sides to provide him with a “detailed timeline” of their efforts to obtain documents from federal prosecutors.
“The court needs to provide the requested documents to properly assess who, if anyone, is responsible for the late filing,” Merchian wrote.
Trump’s lawyers argued that Cohen paid Daniels to avoid family embarrassment for Trump rather than to protect his electoral prospects, as state prosecutors allege.
They say some of the newly disclosed material shows Trump did not commit a crime.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges that his payment to Daniels violated campaign finance laws.
Trump also faces three other federal and state criminal indictments, two stemming from his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden and one related to his handling of sensitive government documents after leaving office in 2021.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
So far, Trump’s legal troubles have not hurt his efforts to regain the presidency. He secured the Republican nomination this week.
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