Trump tries to delay hush money trial until after Supreme Court immunity ruling
Former President Donald Trump is hoping to delay his hush money trial until after the US Supreme Court rules on whether or not he has presidential immunity in another of his four indictments, the election interference case.
The businessman is hoping that, if the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) rules that he does have immunity, he can delay the hush money trial indefinitely — or have it vacated altogether. He has previously claimed he has immunity for every action he committed while in office, no matter the nature.
His legal team also argues that some of the actions outlined in the case constitute official acts while he was president, meaning he can't be tried for them, especially if he's found immune in the other trial. On Monday, the Republican frontrunner's legal team asked Manhattan Judge Juan Manuel Merchan to adjourn the trial until SCOTUS can rule, but he did not immediately rule on the demand.
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Trump sits in a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in February 2024 (Getty Images)The hush money case centres on allegations that the former president falsified the Trump Organization's internal records in order to hide the true nature of payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen. It is scheduled to begin on March 25.
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But with SCOTUS scheduled to hear arguments on April 25, a whole month later, Trump is hoping to delay the hush money trial until at least May, when a ruling could come down. The hush money case alleges that the payments to Cohen were for his services in helping the businessman cover up negative stories about him during his 2016 campaign that ultimately saw him win the White House.
Trump is facing a whole host of legal challenges in the run up to the November 2024 presidential election (Getty Images)One of the payments — perhaps the most famous of them — was made out to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the amount of $130,000, designed to silence her claims that she had an affair with the former president years before that. Part of the evidence Trump's legal team is hoping to repress includes messages the 2024 presidential candidate posted on his social media accounts about the money he paid to Cohen. Because the posts were made in 2018, while he was president, his lawyers argue that they constitute official acts.
Ultimately, Trump pleaded not guilty last year to the 34 felony counts of falsifying his business records he was slapped with in the case, and he has vehemently denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels. His lawyers have also argued that the payments made to Cohen have nothing to do with the illicit affairs he is accused of and that they were simple, legitimate legal expenses that have nothing to do with any sort of cover-up.
Trump has long claimed he has immunity for any and all acts carried out while he held office, no matter the nature (Getty Images)The hush money case is just the first of four indictments slated to go to trial that charge the former president with a collective 91 felonies. The others include: the one he raised the immunity issue for, his involvement in the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, that many label as an insurrection; the mishandling of classified documents stashed at his Mar-a-Lago estate, some of which were stored in the bathroom and in the shower; and his illicit scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, where he is accused of attempting to entice the state's attorney general for more votes.
Trump's request to delay the hush money case comes after a federal judge rejected his claim that the allegations related to the hush money payments were part of his official duties as president. He had tried to move the case from state court to federal court, but that request was denied.
Trump's hush money trial is set to begin in March (AFP via Getty Images)"The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely a personal item of the President — a cover-up of an embarrassing event," U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein wrote in July. "Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a President's official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the President's official duties."
Trump's lawyers had appealed Hellerstein's ruling but then dropped that appeal in November, doing so with prejudice, meaning they can't bring it back up again. Now, everyone is waiting for SCOTUS to rule on immunity in the election interference case — to see whether that will have any implications for the former president's other indictments.
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