Judge delays Trump’s hush-money criminal trial, citing late evidence

Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial in New York was postponed Friday until at least mid-April as the judge seeks answers about a last-minute evidence dump that the former president’s lawyers say hampered their ability to prepare a defense .

Manhattan Judge Juan Manuel Merchan granted a 30-day delay starting Friday and scheduled the hearing for March 25 after Trump’s lawyers complained that they had only recently begun More than 100,000 pages of documents were received from previous federal investigations into the matter.

Merchan said he held the hearing to determine whether prosecutors should face sanctions or if the case should be dismissed as Trump’s lawyers have requested.

The trial was originally scheduled to begin on March 25. The delay means the trial will begin no earlier than April 15. Prosecutors have said they would not object to a brief delay.

In a letter Friday, Merchants told Manhattan prosecutors and Trump’s defense team that he wanted to assess “who, if anyone, was responsible for the late filing” and whether it harmed either party, and whether any sanctions are necessary.

The judge asked for a timeline of events detailing when documents were requested and when they were handed over. He also wants access to all communications between the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting Trump, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which investigated the matter in 2018.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office declined to comment. Trump’s attorney, Todd Branch, also declined to comment.

Merchin’s decision upends the first of four criminal indictments against Trump that are set to go to trial. Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, has worked to postpone all criminal cases, arguing that he should not be forced to go to court during the campaign.

Trump’s lawyers want a 90-day delay, which would push the start of the trial until early summer, and are asking for the case to be dismissed entirely. Prosecutors said they agreed to a 30-day adjournment “out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the defendants have adequate time to review the new material.”

The hush-money case centers on accusations that Trump falsified company records to conceal the true nature of payments to his lawyer, Michael Cohen. Cohen paid porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 during the 2016 presidential campaign to suppress her allegations of extramarital sex. Meeting with Trump a few years ago.