Prosecutors agree to 30-day delay of Trump’s NY hush money trial
Manhattan prosecutors agreed Thursday to a month-long delay of their hush-money case against former President Donald Trump — less than two weeks before the Republican presidential candidate was set to go to trial.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said it was open to pausing the case for 30 days so the ex-president’s lawyers can sift through thousands of pages of newly disclosed evidence from Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams.
Trump’s trial on felony charges of covering up a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels that silenced her story about an alleged affair had been set to start on March 25.
But Williams’ office turned over 31,000 pages of new evidence related to the case on Wednesday, and will produce another batch of documents next week, Bragg’s office said in a court filing.
The DA’s office said it does “not oppose a brief adjournment of up to 30 days” to allow Trump’s lawyers, “in an abundance of caution,” to have “sufficient time” to review the new materials.
The proposed delay must still be approved by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.
Merchan did not issue an immediate ruling Thursday.
Bragg’s office appeared to blame both Trump and the feds for the delay, noting that the new evidence includes “materials” that the DA “requested” from the US Attorney’s Office “more than a year ago” and that the feds had “previously declined to provide.”
“The timing of the USAO’s productions is a result solely of defendant’s delay despite the People’s diligence,” his office argued.
A rep for the US Attorney’s Office had no immediate comment, and neither did Trump’s lawyers.
The Manhattan feds have relevant documents to the state case because of their prosecution of Trump’s ex fixer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance crimes stemming from the hush money payoff in 2018.
Cohen served prison time as a result of his plea, and is now slated to testify against Trump at the upcoming trial.
Anna Cominsky, a professor at New York Law School, said that she believes the judge will likely grant the 30-day delay, and then not budge on the trial date beyond that.
“The judge is likely to grant the 30 day delay,” she told The Post Thursday. “Given the recently filed motion by the defense, the judge may also permit limited motion practice which may add an additional delay. Beyond that I expect him to hold firm on the trial date.”