On Monday, legal representatives for Donald Trump submitted a motion aiming to postpone the commencement of the former president’s criminal trial in New York, pending a decision from the Supreme Court regarding his assertion of presidential immunity.
They further contended that a fair trial for Trump would be unattainable due to extensive pre-trial media coverage. The motion proposed either the complete cancellation of the case relating to hush money or a substantial delay.
In response to this request, Judge Juan Merchan promptly dismissed it on Wednesday, elaborating on his decision in a formal order. He pointed out that Trump had ample opportunities to raise the issue of presidential immunity long before March 7, 2024.
Trump (Credits: New York Post)
Notably, Trump had already presented arguments on the same matter in federal court and was fully aware of the prosecution’s intent to introduce relevant evidence throughout the trial preparation period.
Judge Merchan expressed skepticism over the circumstances presented and declined to entertain the question of whether presidential immunity would preclude the admission of evidence concerning purported official presidential actions in a criminal proceeding.
Originally slated to commence on March 25, with a subsequent postponement to April 15 due to the emergence of new documents from federal prosecutors, the trial aims to resolve controversies surrounding payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump had attributed these payments to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, referring to them in a 2018 social media post as a “simple private transaction” and asserting that they did not constitute any violation of law based on their actions.
