Former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan was delayed by around three weeks on Friday by the judge overseeing the case.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan sent a letter to District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office pushing the scheduled March 25 start date back 30 days from the date of his Friday letter, meaning jury selection won’t start for Trump’s hush money trial until at least mid-April, The Washington Post reported.
Merchan delayed the trial after Trump’s lawyers asked for a 90-day delay, arguing that the prosecution wasn’t giving them enough time to review a new dump of 100,000 pages of material that could be used as evidence in the case. The former president and current frontrunner in the 2024 election is accused of trying to cover up alleged hush money payments he sent to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump has denied sending Daniels any hush money along with denying the alleged affair between them.
The hush money case, brought by leftist DA Alvin Bragg and widely viewed as the weakest case against the former president, was the first in a slew of criminal charges against Trump and made Trump the first ex-president to be charged with a crime. The former president pleaded not guilty last year to all 34 charges of falsifying business records leveled against him by Bragg.
With the delay in the hush money case against Trump, all four criminal trials indicting the Republican presidential nominee now face different types of delays as the 2024 election nears.
Federal Election Interference Case
In the 2020 election interference case against Trump being tried in Washington, D.C., the court is awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Court on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity. The high court announced late last month that it would take up the issue of whether former President Donald Trump can invoke presidential immunity to shield himself from federal prosecution.
The D.C. case, which was brought by special counsel Jack Smith, is unlikely to begin before the 2024 election, according to legal experts, as the Supreme Court will not begin oral arguments on the immunity claim until April 24.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the federal case in which he is accused of unlawfully plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. His lawyers filed to dismiss the case in October by arguing that Trump’s actions were “within the heartland” of his “official duties.”
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Classified Documents Case
In Florida, special counsel Jack Smith has also leveled criminal charges against Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents after leaving office, but that case has also run into a roadblock as the judge is considering complex legal questions.
Earlier this week, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Trump’s motion to dismiss charges in the case based on unconstitutional vagueness, but she still has to rule on the former president’s argument to dismiss charges based on his presidential authority to declare documents his “personal” records, CNN reported. Cannon has not hinted at a potential start date for the trial.
Georgia Election Interference Case
The case against Trump in Georgia — alleging that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state — is in the midst of a months-long setback after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was accused of misusing taxpayer dollars and showing favoritism to special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Willis was accused by Trump’s co-defendant Mike Roman of being romantically involved with Wade at the time she hired him for the Trump case. A witness testified last month that the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade began before the case started, while Willis maintains that the relationship didn’t take place until later.
Testimony from a former employee in the DA’s office, who said Willis and Wade began their relationship in 2019, contradicted claims by both Willis and Wade that their personal relationship did not begin until 2022.
On Friday, Judge Scott McAfee ruled that either Wade or Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had to exit the 2020 Georgia election case against Trump for the prosecution to continue. Hours later, Wade sent his resignation letter to the district attorney’s office.
Willis is being investigated by the House Judiciary Committee, which subpoenaed the district attorney last month. The Georgia state Senate is also investigating Willis, allowing it to issue subpoenas and put witnesses under oath.
It remains to be seen if any of the criminal trials against Trump officially begin jury selection and get off the ground before election day, which is now less than eight months away. The delays are a welcome sign for the former president and his campaign as Trump leads President Joe Biden in the polls, including in vital swing states, according to the RealClearPolitics average.