Judge rejects Trump’s longshot bid to further delay his Manhattan criminal trial

NEW YORK — The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s upcoming criminal trial in Manhattan has denied a last-ditch attempt by the former president to postpone the trial until after the Supreme Court decides Trump’s bid for “presidential immunity” in one of his other criminal cases.

The Wednesday ruling puts a stop to Trump’s effort to further delay the Manhattan trial, which is scheduled to begin April 15 after recently being delayed by three weeks to allow lawyers to review a last-minute set of documents.

Justice Juan Merchan wrote that Trump waited too long to use the immunity argument to seek a delay and to try to prevent prosecutors from using some of the evidence they intend to introduce at trial. Trump filed those requests on March 7, just 17 days before the trial was originally scheduled to start, and Merchan wrote that their timing “raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion.”

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments April 25 on Trump’s claim in the federal election case that he has immunity from criminal charges for nearly any action he took while president. In that case, he is charged with conspiring to deprive Americans of the right to vote by spreading lies about the 2020 election, but he is seeking to have the case tossed on immunity grounds. A decision by the high court is expected by the end of June, and waiting for such a decision would have delayed the Manhattan trial yet again.

“This Court finds that Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024,” Merchan wrote.

Though the Manhattan trial concerns an episode before Trump became president — his alleged agreement to pay hush money in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign to cover up an affair with a porn star — some of the evidence concerns actions that Trump took after he became president.

For instance, Trump’s lawyers raised concerns that prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office have said they intend to introduce evidence of a 2018 “pressure campaign” by Trump to intimidate his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen. Cohen arranged the hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution.

The scope of a former president’s potential immunity from criminal charges is largely untested, but most scholars and judges who have considered the question agree that any immunity could only cover charges that stem from a president’s official duties.