A New York judge rejected Donald Trump’s plea to delay his upcoming criminal trial until after the Supreme Court rules on his claim of presidential immunity
A New York judge has rejected Donald Trump’s plea to delay his criminal trial until the Supreme Court rules on his claim of presidential immunity. Trump urged Judge Juan Merchan to delay the trial in March, but Merchan argued that Trump raised the argument too late. Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records related to money he had paid to former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Merchan said Trump had been on notice that prosecutors were going to use evidence of the alleged pressure campaign on the two of them. Trump pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsified business records related to money he had paid to Cohen in an attempt to reimburse him for a $130,000 hush money payment he made to Daniels in 2016.
US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trump’s attempt to raise an immunity defense last year, stating that the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal item of the President. Merchan called the delay “unjustifiable” and raised questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion.