In the weak Stormy Daniels hush money case against Trump, the judge granted a 30 day delay to the trial after prosecutors dropped 15,000 pages of new evidence late.
The DOJ had investigated the payments while Trump was president.
His lawyers wanted a longer delay until the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity in Trump’s appeal of the election interference case in June.
But the judge only granted 30 days for defense to review new evidence, setting a hearing on questions for March 25.
“The Court should adjourn the trial pending Supreme Court review of the scope of the presidential immunity doctrine in Trump v. United States, which is scheduled to be argued before the Supreme Court on April 25, 2024,” the motion states. It adds that the case should also be adjourned “following an evidentiary hearing outside the presence of the jury, preclude evidence of President Trump’s official acts at trial based on presidential immunity.”
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg charged Trump with falsifying records to hide payments from voters in 2016.
Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” Bragg said.
Trump’s lawyers argued the case should be paused pending the high court decision given implications for future presidents facing politically motivated prosecution.
“If the prosecution of a President is upheld, such prosecutions will recur and become increasingly common, ushering in destructive cycles of recrimination,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.
“Criminal prosecution, with its greater stigma and more severe penalties, imposes a far greater ‘personal vulnerability’ on the President than any civil penalty,” the filing read. “The threat of future criminal prosecution by a politically opposed Administration will overshadow every future President’s official acts – especially the most politically controversial decisions.”
