REJECTED: Yet Another Trump Bid to Delay Criminal Trial Fails
Former President Donald Trump has lost yet another bid to delay the start of his criminal trial in Manhattan, which is set to begin on Monday.
Trump is under indictment for what District Attorney Alvin Bragg says was the ex-president’s falsification of business records to hide hush money payments to keep extramarital affairs under wraps. The defendant has pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts he faces in the case.
CNN’s Paula Reid broke the news on Wednesday’s episode of The Lead with Jake Tapper.
“Paula, breaking news,” Tapper said. “What has the court decided? Are they going to delay the trial because Donald Trump has presidential immunity?”
“They are not,” she replied. “He is o for three before the New York [Appellate Division] this week. This was his third trip this week… trying to get them to delay this hush money trial, which is scheduled to begin on Monday.”
Reid noted that Trump’s lawyers claimed they need more time to argue the issue of presidential immunity, which they say renders Trump immune from acts he committed as president.
“Now, this has been rejected, but this is not the last stop in the state of New York,” she continued. “They could potentially… take this issue to the Court of Appeals, which is the highest court – the final destination for cases in the state of New York.”
(For clarification, the Court of Appeals is indeed the highest court in New York, above the Appellate Divisions, which in turn are above the Supreme Courts, which are actually the lower courts. Yes, it is weird.)
The judge who rejected Trump this time around was Judge Ellen Gesmer, who issued a two-page ruling.
“Now it’s unclear if that court would indulge this appeal,” Reid added. “But if they’re able to get an answer from that highest court in the state of New York, they would then have the option to possibly ask the Supreme Court to stay this case, the hush money case while the [U.S.] Supreme Court considers the issue of presidential immunity in another case – in the federal election subversion case. That argument will be heard on April 25th.”
Trump is under indictment in three other jurisdictions, including the aforementioned election subversion case in federal court in Washington, D.C. His lawyers argue that his efforts to overturn the 2020 election are covered by presidential immunity.
Watch above via CNN.
