


Former President Donald Trump is asking an appeals court to weigh in on whether the judge in his New York criminal hush money case was correct in shutting down his “presidential immunity” defense, CNN reported Wednesday, marking Trump's latest attempt to push back on his first-ever criminal trial—just five days before it's set to begin.
Former President Donald Trump's legal team appealed a ruling in his New York hush money case after a ... [+]
Lawyers representing Trump, who was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury just over a year ago over repayments for alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election, filed the appeal in New York on Wednesday morning.
The notice of appeal—which also asked the appellate court to look at the judge’s decision not to recuse himself—was viewed by CNN but sealed shortly after that, according to the network.
The appeal comes one week after Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump’s bid to delay the case earlier this month while the Supreme Court determines whether Trump is immune from prosecution in a separate criminal trial, a decision that could have broader implications on Trump’s ability to evade prosecution in his four ongoing criminal cases.
In his denial, Merchan had argued Trump was too late to make the claim of presidential immunity in the New York case, writing that Trump “had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before” Trump filed the motion on March 7, and that Trump’s push for a delay “raises real questions about [its] sincerity and actual purpose.”
Trump has also appealed a gag order Merchan enforced after Trump repeatedly came after both Merchan and his daughter on social media, and attempted to delay the start of the trial while his gag order challenge was being processed—though an appeals court judge denied Trump’s application for a temporary stay last week.
Jury selection in Trump’s hush money trial is slated to start Monday and last roughly six weeks. The former president faces 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business records in payments to former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.