Donald Trump's bid to delay 'hush money' trial rejected as fears political bias

Donald Trump’s request to postpone his April 15 “hush money” trial has been rejected by New York appeals judge, Justice Lizbeth Gonzalez.

This decision came after an emergency hearing where Trump’s lawyers sought an indefinite delay while they attempt to change the trial location.

Trump had hoped for an emergency stay, a court order that would prevent the trial from commencing as scheduled.

This “hush money trial” is the first of four criminal indictments against Trump set to go to trial and marks the first criminal trial ever of a former president.

Emil Bove, Trump’s lawyer, argued that the presumptive Republican nominee could face “real potential prejudice” if tried in heavily Democratic Manhattan.

He cited defense surveys and media coverage reviews to argue that fair jury selection, due to start next Monday, cannot proceed.

Trump has suggested via social media that the trial should be relocated to Staten Island, the only New York City borough he won in both 2016 and 2020 elections.

However, Steven Wu, appellate chief for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, pointed out that trial Judge Juan M. Merchan had already dismissed Trump’s requests to move or delay the trial as untimely.

“The question in this case is not whether a random poll of New Yorkers from whatever neighborhood are able to be impartial, it’s about whether a trial court is able to select a jury of 12 impartial jurors,” Wu stated.

He pointed the finger at Trump for generating pretrial publicity by making “countless media appearances talking about the facts of this case, the witnesses, and so on.”

Trump’s legal team is concurrently contesting a gag order that was placed on him in the case, which was recently broadened by Judge Merchan to prevent Trump from commenting on the judge’s family. The appellate court indicated that it would address this issue at a later time.

Documents related to Trump’s appeals have been sealed and are not accessible to the public.

After Judge Merchan decided that the trial would commence on April 15, Trump vowed to appeal. His attorneys had requested a postponement of the trial until at least the summer, arguing they needed additional time to examine evidence from a previous federal probe into the case.

Despite already rescheduling the trial from its initial March 25 start date due to the late evidence, Judge Merchan refused any further postponements.

On Monday, Trump’s lawyers launched their appeals through two different court dockets. One appeal took the form of a lawsuit against Judge Merchan, providing a means to dispute his decisions.

In New York, a state law known as Article 78 allows judges to be sued over certain judicial decisions. Trump has previously utilized this tactic, including in an unsuccessful attempt to delay his civil fraud case last fall.

The current case accuses him of manipulating his company’s records to conceal the nature of payments made to his former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen. Cohen assisted Trump in suppressing negative stories during his 2016 campaign, including paying adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged extramarital affair with Trump.

Last year, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records. He has also denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his legal team maintains that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.

Trump’s actions on Monday mark the latest development in his ongoing conflict with Judge Merchan.

After Merchan imposed a gag order last month preventing Trump from publicly discussing jurors, witnesses, and others involved in the case, Trump took to social media to criticize the judge. In response to Trump’s complaints, Merchan extended the gag order to include Trump’s family members.

Just last week, Trump once again asked for Merchan to recuse himself from the case, citing the fact that Merchan’s daughter is the head of a firm whose clients have included his political adversaries President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other Democrats.

The former president is accusing the judge of bias and conflict of interest due to his daughter’s professional activities. The judge had previously dismissed a similar motion last August.

Trump has been actively seeking to delay the trial, a tactic familiar from his other legal battles. “We want delays,” Trump declared in front of TV cameras during a pretrial hearing for his hush money case in February.

Judge Merchan recently denied Trump’s request to postpone the trial pending a Supreme Court decision on claims of presidential immunity in another criminal case.

On the eve of his New York civil fraud trial, Trump filed a lawsuit against Judge Arthur Engoron, alleging abuse of judicial power. Trump’s legal team was particularly aggrieved by Engoron’s refusal to delay the trial, filing their complaint just weeks before the scheduled start date.

The state appeals court dismissed Trump’s allegations, and the trial commenced as planned on Oct. 2.

Amidst the civil proceedings, Trump initiated another lawsuit against Engoron, this time challenging a gag order issued after Trump attacked the judge’s chief law clerk online. The gag order prohibited those involved in the caseand eventually their attorneysfrom making public statements about court staff, though it did not extend to comments about the judge himself.

A single appeals judge initially lifted the gag order, but a panel of four appellate judges reinstated it two weeks later. The panel stated that Trump’s lawyers should have adhered to a standard appeals process rather than suing the judge.

Trump’s legal team claimed they were attempting to expedite the process.

Engoron, who presided over the case without a jury, determined that Trump, his company, and key executives deceived bankers and insurers by inflating his wealth in documents used to secure loans and coverage. Trump has denied any misconduct and is appealing both the verdict and the penalties and interest exceeding $454 million.