The highly anticipated criminal trial of former President Donald Trump, centered around hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, has been delayed once more, this time by 30 days.
Justice Juan Merchan granted the extension due to the late disclosure of evidence to Trump’s defense team, marking another victory for the former president in his legal battles.
Scheduled to commence no earlier than April, the trial in a New York state court in Manhattan was set to be the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president. However, the delay could complicate the scheduling of three other pending criminal indictments against Trump.
In response to a subpoena from Trump’s defense team, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan disclosed over 100,000 pages of documents related to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, who facilitated the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records to conceal the payment.
Trump’s lawyers requested a 90-day delay to review the extensive material, while Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office consented to a 30-day delay. Bragg’s office stated that many of the documents provided were irrelevant to the case.
However, Trump’s legal team accused Bragg of withholding potentially damaging information about Cohen, a key prosecution witness. Justice Merchan called for a detailed timeline of efforts to obtain documents from federal prosecutors to assess responsibility for the delayed disclosure.
Trump’s defense maintains that the payment to Daniels was to spare embarrassment to Trump’s family, not to influence the 2016 election, as alleged by state prosecutors. They argue that some of the newly disclosed material supports Trump’s innocence.
Despite facing multiple criminal indictments, including charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and mishandling government documents, Trump’s legal troubles have not derailed his bid to secure the Republican nomination for the upcoming election.
He remains resilient, pledging not guilty to all charges as he pursues his political ambitions.
