The decide overseeing Donald J. Trump’s prison case in Manhattan rejected his last-ditch bid to delay a trial past April 15, eradicating on Wednesday one of many remaining obstacles to the primary prosecution of a former American president.
Mr. Trump, who’s accused of overlaying up a intercourse scandal surrounding the 2016 presidential marketing campaign, had requested the decide to delay the trial till after the Supreme Court docket guidelines on whether or not he’s immune from prosecution over official acts he took whereas president. That difficulty arose in one other of his prison instances, and the Supreme Court docket is predicted to listen to arguments this month, however won’t rule till June.
The decide within the Manhattan case, Juan M. Merchan, dominated that his trial didn’t want to attend for the Supreme Court docket. He denied Mr. Trump’s effort as “premature,” ruling that he had didn’t request the delay by a authorized deadline.
The decide mentioned the request’s timing — simply weeks earlier than the trial was set to begin — additionally raised “actual questions in regards to the sincerity and precise objective of the movement.”
He added: “The circumstances, considered as a complete, check this court docket’s credulity.”
Mr. Trump’s effort was his newest bid to delay his 4 prison instances, that are unfolding in opposition to the backdrop of his marketing campaign to regain the White Home. If Mr. Trump can stall the instances till Election Day, and he wins the presidency, they might possible grind to a halt.
A few of his techniques have paid off. In Florida, the place Mr. Trump is accused of mishandling categorized paperwork, a Trump-appointed decide has but to finalize a trial date. And in Washington, D.C., the place a federal particular counsel has accused Mr. Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, the Supreme Court docket has paused the trial whereas it considers the immunity difficulty.
Within the Manhattan case, Mr. Trump secured a three-week delay, from late March to mid-April, after new investigative data emerged. However Mr. Trump wished to push again the trial additional. His legal professionals sought a 90-day delay, or an outright dismissal, blaming prosecutorial misconduct for the last-minute cache of paperwork.
That accusation carried little weight with Justice Merchan, who not too long ago confirmed the April 15 begin date and rebuked Mr. Trump’s authorized group.
Mr. Trump’s legal professionals, Todd Blanche and Susan R. Necheles, declined to remark.
The Manhattan case stems from a hush-money deal struck with a porn star, Stormy Daniels, within the remaining days of the 2016 marketing campaign. In a 34-count indictment final yr, the Manhattan district legal professional, Alvin L. Bragg, accused Mr. Trump of falsifying enterprise data associated to the payoff.
Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has denied the affair and the fees, which he claims are politically motivated.
The hassle to pull out the Manhattan case till after the Supreme Court docket addressed the immunity difficulty appeared notably far-fetched.
The Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace famous that Mr. Trump’s legal professionals filed the request solely 17 days earlier than the trial was initially scheduled to begin, months after they filed different pretrial motions.
Mr. Trump’s legal professionals, Justice Merchan famous, had already argued the identical difficulty in federal court docket in Washington and but had failed to boost it with him.
The decide additionally appeared skeptical that the immunity declare had direct bearing on the fees introduced by Mr. Bragg.
At a listening to in February, Justice Merchan mentioned that “the problem of the state proceedings I don’t consider is for the Supreme Court docket.”
In a footnote to Wednesday’s determination, Justice Merchan wrote that Mr. Trump “doesn’t seem to boost a declare of presidential immunity” that applies to the cover-up of the intercourse scandal.
