Court denies Trump’s request for lawsuit delay
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An appellate court judge denied former President Donald Trump’s request to pause the date of his upcoming criminal lawsuit in New York on Tuesday. Justice Cynthia Kern’s ruling was the second time in the past week that a decision has been made regarding Trump’s efforts to slow the case going to trial.
Jury selection currently remains set for April 15.
Trump’s legal team tried to push the case back so that a full appellate court panel could assess the gag order previously made and then adjusted by Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the hush money case.
“The First Amendment harms arising from this gag order right now are irreparable,” Trump lawyer Emil Bove said at a hearing Tuesday, per The Associated Press. Bove argued it’s unfair that Trump be silenced while prosecution witnesses Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen continue to openly criticize the presumptive presidential front-runner.
The lawsuit filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that Trump concealed documents during his 2016 presidential campaign. The documents show Trump reimbursing his former lawyer, Cohen, $130,000 to prevent adult film star Daniels from disclosing their purported affair from years before.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts against him in the case.
In response to Bove, Cohen’s attorney, Steven Wu, said, “The slippery slope about this constitutional argument is that he can attack anyone,” per CBS News.
The gag order was restricted to prohibit Trump from commenting about Bragg’s and Merchan’s family after the former president commented about the judge’s daughter on social media.
In her decision on Tuesday, Kern stated that an appellate panel will consider Trump’s points. His attorneys are scheduled to present their arguments to the panel on the morning of April 15, coinciding with the potential jurors being escorted into the courtroom.
Trump’s legal team is still requesting a trial delay until the appellate panel has decided on the gag order. CBS News added, “‘There is no basis for staying a criminal trial’ for this reason, and ‘they have cited no case record’ in support of that, Wu said.”
The case is one of four criminal indictments that Trump faces while also being the leading opponent against President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election.
