Donald Trump Loses Third Attempt to Delay Hush Money Trial

Former President Donald Trump lost his third attempt in a week to delay his hush money-related charges from heading to trial on Monday.

Trump's lawyers had motioned on Wednesday to push back the trial while an appeals court considers New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan's rulings that struck down previous requests to postpone the case.

Within minutes after arguments, the latest motion was dismissed by Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer for the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York. Similar efforts by Trump's defense team to delay the trial were also rejected by state appeals courts on Monday and Tuesday.

The Context

Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to payments made to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and jury selection for the case is scheduled to begin Monday.

The former president has attempted to delay all four of his criminal indictments from heading to court until after the election in November, where he is set to challenge President Joe Biden for reelection. The hush money indictment was the first to be brought against Trump, last spring by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Merchan, who's presiding over the hush money case, originally had scheduled for trial to begin on March 25, but granted an extension after Trump's lawyers motioned to have the case postponed after federal prosecutors disclosed over 100,000 pages of documents to the defense team that are related to a previous investigation.

What We Know

Trump's attorneys filed a challenge of Merchan on Wednesday, invoking a New York state provision known as Article 78. The action allows individuals to seek relief from unlawful state or government action.

The defense team also argued in a court hearing earlier in the day that the trial should be pushed back because Merchan has yet to rule on a motion to have the judge recuse himself. The former president's team has argued that Merchan's daughter's work at a Democratic political consulting firm poses a conflict of interest in the case.

Trump attorney Emil Bove also claimed that the case was moving forward "under circumstances that will violate President Trump's rights," according to a report by Reuters. Trump's team also claimed that Merchan's dismissal of his bid to use presidential immunity in the hush money case was an overstep of his authority.

Attorneys for Bragg countered, arguing that Trump's effort to delay the trial was too late, adding that there was "a powerful public interest in ensuring that this criminal trial go forward." Bragg's office also pushed back on claims that Merchan stood to benefit in any way from the trial's outcome.

Views

Bragg previously ripped Trump's efforts to have Merchan recuse himself from the case as a "meritless" effort, writing in a court filing that was made public on Monday that the motion "fails on the merits" and should be dismissed.

"Defendant's motion is not a good-faith effort to identify legitimate grounds for this Court's recusal," Bragg wrote. "And the motion is yet another last-ditch attempt to address defendant's real objective, which is—as the Court has already recognized—to delay this proceeding indefinitely."

Steven Cheung, Trump's communications director, told Newsweek Wednesday evening that the former president "and his legal team will continue fighting against this Biden Trial and all of the other Witch Hunts."

What's Next?

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee faces a busy April in courtrooms. New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron has ordered Trump's team back in court April 22 to discuss details of the $175 million bond he posted in his civil fraud case. The amount was rejected by the New York County Supreme Court over missing information.

The U.S. Supreme Court is also scheduled to hear arguments April 25 on whether Trump is protected by presidential immunity from facing charges related to actions he took while in office. The former president has attempted to shield himself with immunity claims in all four of his criminal cases.

The hush money case may be the only criminal indictment against Trump to head to trial ahead of Election Day in November.

Update 04/10/24, 7:19 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and background.