New York Court Denies Trump’s Presidential Immunity Argument, With Criminal Trial Set to Proceed
A Manhattan judge has denied former President Donald Trump’s request to delay his upcoming criminal trial, ruling that the filing was “untimely.” Judge Juan Merchan rejected Trump’s attempt to have the trial postponed on the grounds of presidential immunity, saying the motion had been filed too late.
In a six-page ruling issued on Wednesday afternoon, Judge Merchan denied Trump’s last-minute effort to further delay the trial regarding alleged hush-money payments, despite the former president’s legal team already securing a 30-day postponement. Trump had filed the motion on 7 March, asking for the trial to be delayed until after the US Supreme Court makes a decision on whether presidential immunity applies to criminal charges against former or sitting presidents.
Trump’s defence team argued that under the principle of presidential immunity, any evidence related to communications made by Trump during his presidency should be excluded from the case. While the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on 25 April, the ruling could take several days or weeks to materialise, and the criminal trial is scheduled to start on 15 April.
Judge Merchan pointed out that Trump had multiple opportunities to file his motion earlier but chose not to do so, implying that the decision to file the motion was made strategically at the last possible moment.
The former president has previously used the presidential immunity argument in an attempt to delay or dismiss various criminal charges, claiming that actions carried out during his presidency should be protected from prosecution. In this case, Trump’s legal team argued that statements he made on social media and in interviews about his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who is a key witness in the trial, should be considered “official communications” and thus immune from legal scrutiny.
However, Judge Merchan ruled that the argument was irrelevant, as the motion had been filed too late to be considered. He also clarified that the court would not address whether presidential immunity would prevent the introduction of evidence related to Trump’s actions as president in this criminal proceeding.
In a previous ruling, Judge Merchan had already delayed the trial by 30 days due to complications over evidence, including a dispute over the timely release of documents related to Cohen. While Trump’s lawyers claimed that the District Attorney’s office was late in providing the necessary documents, prosecutors denied the allegations and said the defence team had failed to make prompt requests.
This case marks the first criminal trial against a sitting or former U.S. president, and Trump is set to face Judge Merchan and prosecutors in the coming days.
Trump is accused of falsifying 34 business records to conceal hush-money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in an effort to suppress a damaging story about their alleged affair before the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied the affair and the allegations.
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The first day’s journey was through the pink fields
The first day’s journey was through the pink fields
The first day’s journey was through the pink fields