Judge rejects Donald Trump’s request to delay hush-money trial until Supreme Court rules on immunity
A judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s bid to delay his April 15 hush money criminal trial until the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases.
Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan deemed the former president’s request untimely, ruling that his lawyers had “myriad opportunities” to raise the immunity issue before they finally did so in a March 7 court filing.
The timing of the defense filing “raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion,” Merchan wrote in a six-page decision.
Lawyers for Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, had asked last month to adjourn the New York trial indefinitely until Trump’s immunity claim in his Washington, D.C., election interference case is resolved.
Merchan previously chided Trump’s lawyers for missing a filing deadline,
waiting until 2½ weeks before jury selection to raise the immunity issue and failing to “explain the reason for the late filing.”
Trump contends he is immune from prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. His lawyers argue some evidence in the hush money case is from his time in the White House and constitutes official acts. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments April 25.
Trump first raised the immunity issue in his Washington
criminal case, which involves allegations that he worked to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche declined comment. The Manhattan district attorney’s office also declined to comment.
Trump’s hush-money trial, the first of his four criminal cases scheduled to go before a jury, was delayed from March 25 to April 15 because of another issue.