An appeals court judge rejects former President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to delay the start of the hush money trial on the grounds that presidential immunity protects him from being prosecuted. The decision is the third time in three days that Trump has unsuccessfully lobbied an appeals court to postpone the first-ever criminal trial for a former U.S. president. Court filings made public Tuesday also revealed that Trump’s lawyers subpoenaed the wrong man. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
New York hush money
Trump files another last-ditch attempt to delay hush money trial
Key players: Appeals Court Judge Ellen Gesmer, Judge Juan Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, adult-film star Stormy Daniels, New York Associate Justice Cynthia Kern
On Wednesday, Gesmer denied a request from Trump’s lawyers to delay the April 15 start of his hush money trial in New York. Trump had argued that presidential immunity protects him from being prosecuted, even though he was not president when the alleged infraction took place, the Associated Press reported.
Gesmer issued her ruling just 30 minutes after hearing arguments from Trump’s lawyers.
Trump’s lawyers had appealed Merchan’s ruling that presidential immunity did not protect Trump from being tried for allegedly violating New York tax and campaign finance laws when he paid Daniels $130,000 during the 2016 presidential election to hide an alleged extramarital affair with Daniels, CNN reported.
The two-page filing with a New York appeals court also challenged Merchan’s decision not to recuse himself from the case brought by Bragg based on how the judge has handled the case.
The trial is scheduled to begin on Monday.
This week alone, appeals court judges have three different appeals to delay the start of the trial.
Trump’s lawyers have also unsuccessfully appealed Merchan’s refusal to recuse himself from the case as well as Merchan’s ruling that Daniels can testify, as well as his decision that the case can move forward on the merits and be held in state, rather than federal, court.
With Tuesday’s ruling from Kern and Wednesday’s order from Gesmer, Trump has now lost 11 attempts to delay the start of the hush money trial.
Why it matters: Trump’s lawyers have aggressively sought to keep the first criminal case against a former U.S. president from going to trial, but appeals court judges have not obliged. With the trial set to begin on Monday, time is running out for the former president.
Trump lawyers subpoena the wrong man
Key players: Trump lawyer Todd Blanche, Bragg, Daniels, DA investigator Jeremy Rosenberg, Brooklyn resident with no connection to the case Jeremy Rosenberg
Court filings released Tuesday show that Trump’s lawyers issued a subpoena in the hush money case to the wrong man, ABC News reported.
Blanche was seeking to subpoena the Jeremy Rosenberg who worked in Bragg’s office for information on the years-long investigation of Trump’s payment of $130,000 to Daniels. Instead, he sent it to a man with the same name who lives in Brooklyn and has no relationship to the case.
“I don’t have any files for you,” the Brooklyn-based Rosenberg responded to Blanche’s subpoena.
Prosecutors on Bragg’s team told the court that the Jeremy Rosenberg who, in fact, investigated Trump’s payment to Daniels had never heard from Trump’s lawyers.
“After receiving defendant’s pre-motion letter, the People spoke with Mr. Rosenberg’s counsel, who informed the People that Mr. Rosenberg was not, in fact, served with the subpoena,” prosecutors wrote.
Blanche sent Brooklyn resident Rosenberg $15 to cover mailing fees for the requested documents, and in his response, Rosenberg informed the lawyer that he was keeping that money.
“I’m keeping the fifteen dollars,” he wrote.
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide the payment to Daniels.
Why it matters: A former prosecutor, Blanche does not have extensive experience as a defense attorney.
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Tuesday, April 9
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For the second time in two days, an appeals court judge rejects a motion by former President Donald Trump that would have delayed the April 15 start of his hush money trial. New York Associate Justice Cynthia Kern declines Trump’s motion, which argued that the case should be postponed while he appeals Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order preventing Trump from commenting on witnesses, court staff and their families during the trial. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024.
New York hush money
Appeals court judge rejects Trump bid to delay trial over gag order challenge
Key players: New York Associate Justice Cynthia Kern, Judge Juan Merchan, Merchan’s daughter Loren Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, adult film star Stormy Daniels
Only minutes after hearing arguments from Trump’s lawyers on a motion to delay the start of the trial until after they could appeal Merchan’s expanded gag order, Kern denied the motion, CNN reported.
Although Trump is appealing Kern’s decision with the full appeals court, that will not delay the Monday start of the hush money trial, meaning that Trump will still be bound by Merchan’s gag order until at least April 29, when the appeals court has requested written arguments on the matter.
Merchan expanded his original gag order on Trump after the former president repeatedly attacked his daughter, who served as president for Authentic Campaigns, a group that fundraises for Democratic political candidates.
An appeals court has already ruled that Merchan can remain on the case, saying his daughter’s work does not represent a conflict of interest.
Bragg has charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from his 2016 payment of $130,000 to Daniels to cover up an alleged extramarital affair.
On Monday, a second appeals court judge rejected Trump’s motion to delay the hush money trial while he seeks to have the venue changed to a courtroom outside of Manhattan.
Why it matters:If the case begins on April 15, Trump will become the first former president in U.S. history to be tried on criminal charges in a courtroom.
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Monday, April 8
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A New York appeals court judge rejects former President Donald Trump’s emergency request to delay the April 15 start of his hush money trial while he seeks to have it moved to a different state and have a new judge appointed. Trump also announces that he is suing Judge Juan Merchan as he attempts to have the gag order placed on him removed. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024.
New York hush money
Key players: New York Appeals Court Judge Justice Lizbeth González, Judge Juan Merchan, adult film star Stormy Daniels, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg
González rejected Trump’s emergency request to delay the start of his hush money trial, the Associated Press reported.
With just one week to go until the April 15 start date of the Manhattan trial on charges that Trump broke campaign finance and tax laws when he paid Daniels $130,000 in order to hide an extramarital affair from voters in the 2016 presidential election, Trump is also pursuing a number of new filings to keep the trial from going forward, CNN reported.
Trump is seeking to move the trial brought by Bragg from the Democratic stronghold of Manhattan to Staten Island, has filed a lawsuit against Merchan and is appealing the gag order he issued to keep him from commenting on witnesses, court staff and their families.
Daniels is expected to testify in the case about the sexual encounter she had with Trump, as is McDougal.
The hush money case is set to be the first criminal trial Trump will face before the 2024 presidential election.
Why it matters: Trump is running out of time and options to delay the start of his hush money trial.
