Former President Donald Trump’s impending hush money trial in Manhattan, initially slated to commence later this month, has encountered a temporary delay, with proceedings now scheduled to commence no earlier than mid-April, as ruled by a New York judge on Friday.
This postponement comes in response to a request from Trump’s legal team for additional time to thoroughly review over 100,000 pages of new evidence provided by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office. The trial, which encompasses 34 felony counts, focuses on allegations that Trump illicitly falsified records to conceal reimbursing his former attorney, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election. Daniels has asserted that she had a sexual encounter with Trump before his presidency, a claim vehemently denied by Trump.
Judge Juan Merchan’s decision to delay the trial marks yet another procedural victory for Trump, who has successfully postponed or disrupted trial dates in his other three ongoing criminal cases. Despite this reprieve, the 2024 Republican frontrunner remains scheduled to face trial in the New York case before the November election.
The last-minute disclosure of documents by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has added complexity to the proceedings. Approximately 73,000 pages of records were provided by federal prosecutors since March 4 in response to a subpoena issued in January. While the majority of these documents were deemed irrelevant, prosecutors identified 172 pages of witness statements pertinent to the case. An additional 31,000 pages were furnished on Wednesday, with a final document dump anticipated on Friday.
Prosecutors contend that the timing of these document productions is a consequence of Trump’s own delays, highlighting that he waited until January to subpoena additional records despite earlier efforts by prosecutors to obtain documents from the U.S. attorney’s office as early as June 2023.
Trump’s legal team sought a 90-day postponement of the trial, with prosecutors ultimately agreeing to a 30-day extension. Disagreements between the two sides regarding the handling of documents were also addressed.
In response to these developments, Judge Merchan scheduled a hearing for March 25 to address the aforementioned disputes and to determine a potential new trial date.
The delay in Trump’s trial is part of a broader pattern across his criminal cases. In addition to the Manhattan trial, Trump has seen delays in his federal election interference case and the case involving alleged mishandling of classified documents. These delays, coupled with potential legal strategies and the possibility of winning the November presidential election, may allow Trump to defer any criminal trials until after his presidency or seek the dismissal of federal cases altogether.
