Trump secures delay in New York hush money trial

As the various cases against former President Donald Trump face hurdle after hurdle, the judge in his New York “hush money” matter has just handed him a win in the form of a month-long delay, as The Hill reports.

The trial, originally set to commence on March 25, will now not begin until mid-April, and comes amid a host of other hiccups in the multiple prosecutions currentlly pending against the former president and presumptive GOP nominee.

Talk of a delay publicly emerged Thursday in a filing from District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, according to Fox News, and in it, Bragg's team indicated that they would not oppose an adjournment of the case for up to 30 days.

The purpose, the lawyers said, was to permit Trump's attorney sufficient time to review documents and evidence the office recently received.

Those materials, according to Fox News, were turned over by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, and they were likley generated as part of a federal probe of the payments from Trump that formed the basis of the current case under Bragg's purview.

Lawyers from Trump battled against Bragg's team over what exactly caused the delay in document production, with Bragg's office claiming that it had asked for the records long ago and blaming the U.S. attorney's office for their absence.

Attorneys for the former president suggested that Bragg was simply attempting to “rewrite the record” on the subject.

Trump's team sought a delay of 90 days, or in the alternative, a dismissal of all counts against the former president, citing what his lawyers referred to as violations of the discovery process.

Notably, attorneys for the former president also requested a delay in trial proceedings until after the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling on his presidential immunity argument stemming from the federal election interference case.

In light of the Bragg team's willingness to consent to a 30-day delay, Judge Juan Merchan on Friday ordered just such a postponement and indicated that he would hold a March 25 hearing for the parties to confer on trial scheduling and the newly produced documents.

During that proceeding, Merchan is set to examine the document delay, and he has asked for both parties to submit their take on the relevant timeline in advance of that date, including any correspondence had with the U.S. attorney's office.

Merchan wrote, “The Court will set the new trial date, if necessary, when it rules on Defendant's motion following the hearing.”

The judge also instructed that the parties, “including the Defendant, not engage or otherwise enter into any commitment pending completion of this trial....”

Fortunately for Trump, this is not the only case that has been subject to delay, given that the aforementioned federal election interference case is on hold pending the Supreme Court's consideration of the immunity claim, the timing of the federal document handling case remains up in the air, and the Georgia election interference case has been beset by controversy and delay due to the conduct of Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis.