Judge Won’t Delay Trump’s Criminal Trial to Wait for Immunity Ruling
The New York Times
The former president had asked the judge to push back his Manhattan criminal trial, slated to begin April 15, until after the Supreme Court decides whether he is immune from prosecution.
The judge overseeing Donald J. Trump’s criminal case in Manhattan rejected his last-ditch bid to delay a trial beyond April 15, removing on Wednesday one of the final obstacles to the first prosecution of a former American president.
Mr. Trump, who is accused of covering up a sex scandal surrounding the 2016 presidential campaign, had asked the judge to delay the trial until after the Supreme Court rules on whether he is immune from prosecution over official acts he took while president. That issue arose in another of his criminal cases, and the Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments this month, but might not rule until June.
The judge in the Manhattan case, Juan M. Merchan, ruled that his trial did not need to wait for the Supreme Court. He denied Mr. Trump’s effort as “untimely,” ruling that he had failed to request the delay by a legal deadline.
The judge said the request’s timing — just weeks before the trial was set to start — also raised “real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion.”
He added: “The circumstances, viewed as a whole, test this court’s credulity.”
Mr. Trump’s effort was his latest bid to delay his four criminal cases, which are unfolding against the backdrop of his campaign to regain the White House. If Mr. Trump can stall the cases until Election Day, and he wins the presidency, they would likely grind to a halt.
