Prosecutors say they are willing to delay Trump hush money trial

New York prosecutors said Thursday they are willing to delay Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial in New York by a month to give the former president’s lawyers time to review evidence that was only recently turned over.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a court filing that it would not object to delaying the start of the trial by up to 30 days. Jury selection for the trial is scheduled to begin on March 25.

Trump’s lawyers are seeking a 90-day delay or dismissal of the case against him, alleging he violated the “disclosure process” under which the two sides exchange evidence. The new records come from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, which previously investigated the hush-money arrangement at the heart of Trump’s New York criminal case.

The defense is also seeking to delay the trial until after the Supreme Court rules on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity, which his lawyers say could apply to some of the allegations and evidence in the hush-money case. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on April 25.

The judge in the hush-money case, Juan Manuel Merchan, has not yet ruled on either request.

Trump’s lawyers have received at least 84,000 pages of records from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office since March 4, including a batch of 31,000 pages on Wednesday, according to a court filing.

The records are related to a federal investigation into hush-money issues that led to the jailing of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

In 2018, federal prosecutors charged Cohen with campaign finance violations related to hush payments, tax evasion related to investments in the taxi industry and lying to Congress.

Cohen, who blamed Trump for his legal troubles, pleaded guilty and served about a year in prison before being released to home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He is now a key prosecution witness in the Manhattan district attorney’s case. Trump and his lawyers have painted Cohen as completely untrustworthy.