The criminal trial against former president Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York will be postponed until mid-April, a judge ruled on Friday.
Judge Juan Merchan pushed the trial back 30 days from Friday after Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg sought the delay to give the defense adequate time to review records turned over by the Justice Department. The criminal trial for Trump’s “hush-money” charges was previously scheduled to begin on March 25th.
Bragg is prosecuting Trump for allegedly falsifying business records related to payments to his former attorney Michael Cohen to reimburse him for paying porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in 2016 to keep quiet about their alleged affair. Trump is facing 34 felony counts for what is typically a misdemeanor offense unless it can be proven that the defendant falsified business records to commit a different crime. Daniels alleges she and Trump had an affair in 2006, an allegation Donald Trump has denied. Trump and former first lady Melania Trump married in 2005.
Bragg has argued Trump violated campaign finance laws with the payment to Daniels, a federal offense not being pursued by federal prosecutors. The Justice Department opted not to prosecute Trump for the alleged campaign finance violations, and the Federal Election Commission has not pursued the case. Bragg is known for being a progressive, soft-on-crime prosecutor in typical criminal cases.
The unprecedented indictment against Trump in Manhattan was the first of four leveled against the former president on more than 90 criminal counts. The Manhattan indictment alleges Trump “hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election” by facilitating a scheme to suppress the publication of the information ahead of the election.
In Fulton County, Georgia, Judge Scott McAfee removed six counts Wednesday from the racketeering indictment against Trump and over a dozen co-defendants in Georgia.
Three of the counts specifically involved Trump, reducing his total to 88 criminal counts across four different prosecutions. McAfee ruled Friday that either Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis or her former lover, special prosecutor Nathan Wade step down from the racketeering case because of improper conduct surrounding their relationship. Wade stepped down from the case Friday, allowing Willis to continue prosecuting Trump and his co-defendants.
Special counsel Jack Smith is prosecuting Trump in Florida for his alleged mishandling of classified documents and in Washington, D.C., for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. The Supreme Court is set to hear Trump’s presidential immunity case on an expedited basis as Trump awaits trial.