Trump’s Request for Trial Delay Denied by New York Judge
In a significant development in the hush money criminal case involving former U.S. President Donald Trump, a New York judge has dismissed the request to postpone the upcoming trial. Despite concerns raised by Trump’s legal team regarding the potential for an unfair trial due to substantial pre-trial publicity, Justice Juan Merchan ruled against an indefinite adjournment on Friday.
Trump’s lawyers had argued that the media coverage surrounding the case was prejudiced and that assembling an impartial jury in Manhattan—a borough they claimed was “overwhelmingly biased” against Trump—would be challenging. However, Merchan pointed out that Trump himself had contributed to the media frenzy with his “unrelenting media posts” and therefore could not claim prejudice from the resultant publicity.
Prosecutors countered Trump’s delay request, suggesting that the level of publicity was unlikely to diminish and that it would be counterproductive to grant a delay based on media attention that Trump had actively sought. They remained confident that a fair jury could be selected through meticulous vetting.
The backdrop of this legal battle is the upcoming November 5 election, where Trump is set to run as the Republican presidential candidate against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden. Despite the political stakes, Trump’s campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, expressed their intent to persist in challenging what he referred to as “this Biden Trial and all of the other Witch Hunts.”
Earlier attempts by Trump to secure a trial delay were also turned down by three state appeals court judges, though a full panel is expected to review these issues later. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges across four criminal cases, faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to the alleged $130,000 payment made by his former lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
As the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president looms, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is leading the prosecution. Trump has consistently denied any extramarital encounter with Daniels and maintains that the payments were legitimate legal expenses. With the trial set to proceed, it could be the only criminal case Trump faces before voters head to the polls in November.
