Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a press conference at his New York City office on February 22, 2024.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told a judge Thursday he would not oppose delaying the start of former President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial by up to 30 days.
Bragg said the delay would give Trump’s lawyers time to review tens of thousands of documents filed Wednesday by federal prosecutors in connection with the criminal prosecution of Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen. He said that it would be possible.
Prosecutors told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Marchan that their team is prepared to begin Trump’s trial on March 25, as currently scheduled.
However, Bragg said in a court filing: “Out of an abundance of caution, and to ensure that the defendant has sufficient time to consider new material, I do not object to a delay.”
Trump falsified business records related to hush money Cohen paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual relationship with the then-presidential candidate. has been charged with a crime.
Mr. Cohen, who is expected to testify against Mr. Trump at trial, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court in 2018 with federal campaign funds related to hush money payments he made to Mr. Daniels and another woman who claims she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Pleaded guilty to the offence.
Mr. Bragg said in a filing that federal prosecutors in Manhattan turned over more than 31,000 pages of records related to Mr. Cohen’s criminal case to his office and Mr. Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday.
Bragg said new documents from federal prosecutors are expected next week.
The DA said the delay in the arrival of these materials was “solely the result of the defendant’s delay despite the public’s eagerness.”
Trump’s lawyers dispute that characterization.
Last week, defense attorneys Susan Necheres and Todd Blanche asked Marchand to either dismiss the charges against Bragg outright or delay the trial for 90 days while blocking testimony from Cohen and Daniels. requested.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that Mr. Marchand should do so because federal prosecutors turned over an incomplete tranche of 73,000 pages related to Mr. Cohen in early March.
Prosecutors “should have obtained and turned over these materials a long time ago, but instead they chose to try and fail to block our access to them,” Trump’s lawyer said. is writing.
Meanwhile, prosecutors say in a new filing that they asked federal prosecutors last year for all grand jury records related to Cohen’s conviction. According to prosecutors, these materials were sent to President Trump by June of last year.
Bragg said that until last week, President Trump “didn’t express any concern” about whether those efforts were enough.
Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chan said in a statement that Bragg agreed to the postponement “in recognition of significant discovery violations.”
“President Trump and his lawyers have consistently and adamantly maintained that this lawsuit has no legal or factual basis and should be dismissed,” Chan said.
President Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, one of four criminal charges he faces as he prepares to run against President Joe Biden in November’s presidential election. It is.
