(AFP) – Prosecutors preparing to put Donald Trump on trial in New York for allegedly covering up hush money payments said they would accept a delay of up to 30 days Thursday after both sides received a deluge of case documents, court filings showed.
Trump’s side had previously sought a delay to the March 25 start of the criminal trial, the first ever of a former US president. Trump, again the Republican candidate for this year’s election, is accused of covering up hush money payments related to his successful 2016 bid for the White House.
The former president, in court separately in Florida Thursday as his team sought the dismissal of charges for mishandling classified documents, faces 34 counts of accounting fraud, which include transactions linked to payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The judge in the records case rejected Trump’s attempt to have the case dismissed for “unconstitutional vagueness,” and did not rule on a second challenge his team had brought against the prosecution.
– Election rematch –
In the hush money case, prosecutors say Trump illegally covered up remittances to longtime aide Michael Cohen, to reimburse him for payments made to bury stories about Trump’s alleged extramarital sexual relations with Daniels and a Playboy model. He denies the charges.
A New York grand jury indicted Trump in March 2023 over the payments made to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
“(Prosecutors) do not oppose a brief adjournment of up to 30 days to permit sufficient time for defendant to review the US Attorney’s Office (documents),” the Manhattan District Attorney said in its submission to the court.
“Yesterday afternoon… the USAO produced approximately 31,000 pages of additional records to both the People and the defense in response to defendant’s subpoena, and also indicated that an additional production would follow by next week.”
Trump’s legal team said on his Truth Social platform that “this case has no basis in law or fact, and should be dismissed.”
Trump has previously described the proceedings as a “disgrace.”
“It’s a rigged state. It’s a rigged city. It’s a shame,” he said previously.
– Racing the clock –
One expert suggested Trump’s legal team were using stalling tactics to delay the trial.
“Trump and his counsel are doing all that they can to prevent any case being tried before the November election,” said University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias.
Trump is facing four criminal cases as he campaigns to retake the White House, with his legal teams thus far failing to push the actual trials until after the November 5 vote.
Trump, who has seized on his legal woes to rev up his supporters and denounce Democratic opponent Joe Biden, has claimed the charges are “just a way of hurting me in the election.”
Biden and Trump each won enough delegates Tuesday to clinch their party nominations in the 2024 presidential race, all but assuring a rematch and setting up one of the longest election campaigns in US history.
The results in four statewide elections Tuesday, the latest in the months-long march to determine the Democratic and Republican party flag bearers, were essentially a foregone conclusion as incumbent Biden and former president Trump had already seen off all primary challengers.
– Gregory WALTON
© 2024 AFP
