The trial for former President Donald Trump’s hush-money case in Manhattan has been postponed until April, as agreed by the judge on Friday, March 15.
Judge Juan Merchan has announced that the trial, which was originally scheduled for March 25, will be delayed by an additional 30 days from Friday.
Trump’s legal team has asked for a 90-day delay following the production of tens of thousands of documents by the Justice Department this month.
According to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the documents have been deemed “largely irrelevant to the subject matter of this case.” However, he has expressed willingness to accommodate a 30-day delay for the trial to commence.
In 2018, Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges, which included making hush-money payments to women who alleged having affairs with Donald Trump. The recently released documents pertain to Cohen’s guilty plea.
Trump is currently dealing with a total of 34 felony charges for falsifying business records. These charges are directly linked to the $130,000 payment he made to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels. The purpose of this payment was to ensure her silence regarding their affair, which took place during his 2016 presidential campaign.
The defendant has entered a plea of not guilty.
The trial in Manhattan was supposed to be the initial one out of the four criminal cases filed against Trump. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed one of Trump’s attempts to dismiss the case, which accuses him of mishandling classified documents due to “unconstitutional vagueness.”
In addition to his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the former president also faces criminal charges for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
