A judge in New York has delayed the start of former President Donald Trump's hush-money trial for 30 days. Trump's attorneys requested the delay, citing the need to sift through additional evidence recently provided from a previous federal investigation into the matter
The case centers around alleged payments to an adult film star during the 2016 presidential election to cover up an alleged sexual encounter years prior. Trump has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to the 34 felony counts of falsifying business records he faces in the case. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and were not part of any cover-up.
Trump’s lawyers said they have received tens of thousands of pages of evidence in the last two weeks from the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, which investigated the hush money arrangement while Trump was president. Trump's attorneys were seeking a 90-day delay, but prosecutors signaled they were fine with a 30-day delay "in an abundance of caution and to ensure that defendant has sufficient time to review the new materials."
The trial, one of four criminal proceedings against Trump as he seeks another term in the White House, was scheduled to begin March 25.
The evidence includes records about former Trump lawyer-turned-prosecution witness Michael Cohen that are “exculpatory and favorable to the defense,” Trump’s lawyers said. Prosecutors said most of the newly turned over material is “largely irrelevant to the subject matter of this case,” though some records are pertinent.
Prosecutors contend Trump’s lawyers caused the evidence problem by waiting until Jan. 18 — a mere nine weeks before the scheduled start of jury selection — to subpoena the U.S. attorney’s office for the full case file.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said it requested the full file last year but the U.S. attorney’s office only turned over a subset of records. Trump’s lawyers received that material last June and had ample time to seek additional evidence from the federal probe, the district attorney’s office said.
Short trial delays because of issues with evidence aren’t unusual, but any delay in a case involving Trump would be significant, with trial dates in his other criminal cases up in the air and Election Day less than eight months away.
The defense has also sought to delay the trial until after the Supreme Court rules on Trump’s presidential immunity claims, 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 April 25.
Trump has repeatedly sought to postpone his criminal trials while he campaigns to retake the White House.
“We want delays,” Trump told reporters as he headed into a Feb. 15 hearing in New York. “Obviously I’m running for election. How can you run for election if you’re sitting in a courthouse in Manhattan all day long?”