Trump's bid to delay hush money trial again rejected by NY appeals court
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Former President Trump on April 10 in Atlanta. Photo: Megan Varner/Getty Images
For the third day in a row, a New York appeals court on Wednesday denied a request from former President Trump's lawyers to delay his upcoming hush money trial.
Why it matters: The rejection is yet another legal loss for Trump and increases the likelihood that the trial will start as scheduled on April 15.
- Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts stemming from allegations he falsified business records to cover up payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Catch up quick: Earlier this week, Trump's lawyers sent out a flurry of delay requests for several different reasons, but none of them have been granted so far.
- His lawyers' call to postpone the trial to find a new venue outside of Manhattan was rejected on Monday. A day later, the court denied their delay request to allow a panel of appellate court judges to hear arguments on a gag order imposed on Trump.
- The gag order, imposed by acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, was intended to stop Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and the family members of those involved in the New York hush money case, but Trump continued to do so after it was imposed.
Zoom in: In the recently denied request, Trump's lawyers were seeking an indefinite delay so they could remove Merchan as presiding judge and challenge several of his rulings, AP reports.
- They claimed Merchan had "exceeded his authority" by not delaying the case until the Supreme Court rules on whether Trump, as a former president, has immunity from criminal prosecution.
- Steven Wu, the appellate chief for the Manhattan DA's office, ruled that Trump's lawyers had months to raise immunity challenges and other issues and ordering a delay just five days before trial would be "incredibly disruptive," according to AP.
The big picture: Merchan released a questionnaire on Tuesday that he plans to use in the jury selection process, which is set to start next week.
Go deeper: Former Trump exec Weisselberg sentenced to 5 months in jail for lying under oath
