After Trump seeks delay in hush money trial, judge tells him to get permission before filing any more motions
Attorneys for former President Donald Trump asked the judge overseeing his New York hush money case to delay the trial while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs Trump's presidential immunity argument -- but the judge pushed back in an order made public late Monday.
Trump's attorneys are scheduled to argue before the Supreme Count next month that he is immune from prosecution for conduct that occurred while he was in office.
In asking for a delay of his hush money trial, currently scheduled to begin March 25, Trump has not argued the charges should be dropped over the immunity claim -- but that the trial be put off and prosecutors be precluded from introducing evidence.
"President Trump respectfully submits that an adjournment of the trial is appropriate to await further guidance from the Supreme Court, which should facilitate the appropriate application of the presidential immunity doctrine in this case to the evidence the People intend to offer at trial," defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote in Monday's court filing.
Judge Juan Merchan, however, criticized the timing of Trump's request and ordered that the former president seek permission before making future motions before the March 25 trial date.
"Defendant does not explain the reason for the late filing, a mere two and a half weeks before jury selection is set to begin," Merchan said in his order. He gave prosecutors until Wednesday to respond to Trump's request for an adjournment.
Going forward, Merchan ordered that the parties need to file a one-page letter explaining and justifying any requested relief before filing a motion. After giving the opposing party one day to respond, Merchan said he would decide the request by setting a briefing schedule or considering the one-page letters as the motions themselves.
"Effective immediately, the parties are hereby directed to obtain leave of the Court before filing any additional motions prior to March 25, 2024," Merchan wrote.
The Supreme Court announced last month that it will hear oral arguments in April on whether Trump can claim sweeping presidential immunity for actions taken while in office, after Trump asked the court to decide the matter in the face of special counsel Jack Smith's federal election interference case against him.
In their motion filed Monday, Trump's lawyers said prosecutors plan to introduce documents and testimony relating to a time period when Trump was in office, including statements posted to Twitter about Cohen.
"The People's recent proffer implicates presidential immunity because President Trump was President of the United States at the time of those actions in 2018. He made at least some of the 2018 statements at issue -- and potentially all of them, though it is hard to be sure in light of the People's vague in limine description -- in his official capacity as the nation's Chief Executive," the defense motion said.
The Manhattan district attorney's office declined when contacted by ABC News.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election.
