Former President Donald Trump's request to delay his hush money criminal trial was denied on Wednesday, marking the third unsuccessful attempt by his legal team to postpone the trial this week.
Trump's arguments for the delay centered around three main points: the recusal of Judge Juan M. Merchan, the perceived restrictiveness of pre-motion letter filing requirements, and the defense's desire to argue presidential immunity as a defense strategy. However, lawyers from the District Attorney's office and court administration opposed the delay, deeming Trump's arguments as lacking merit. The court's attorney clarified that Judge Merchan would not benefit from the trial's outcome.
Following the denial, Trump's legal team filed paperwork seeking intervention from the state's mid-level appeals court to halt the scheduled jury selection. The specifics of Trump's latest appeal were sealed, with no public access to the documents.
A docket listing indicated that Wednesday's action was a new attempt to challenge Judge Merchan under a state law called Article 78, which allows judges to be sued over certain judicial decisions. An appeals court judge was set to hear arguments at an emergency hearing later that day.
Earlier in the week, Trump's requests to delay the trial on different grounds were also turned down by separate judges. One judge rejected a delay while Trump sought to move the trial out of Manhattan, while another denied a request related to a lawsuit against Judge Merchan to lift a gag order imposed on Trump recently.
Trump has previously demanded Judge Merchan's recusal, alleging bias and conflict of interest due to the judge's daughter's professional connections with prominent Democrats. The judge has yet to rule on Trump's recusal request or another defense motion claiming unfair trial conditions due to media coverage.
The hush money trial, scheduled to commence on April 15, is the first of four criminal indictments against Trump set to go to trial. The charges involve allegations of falsifying company records to conceal payments to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who assisted in suppressing negative stories during Trump's 2016 campaign. Cohen's activities included a payment of $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to silence her claims of an extramarital encounter with Trump.
Despite Trump's efforts to delay the trial, the legal proceedings are set to proceed as scheduled, with significant attention on this landmark case involving a former U.S. president.
