Judge delays Trump’s hush-money criminal trial until mid-April, citing last-minute evidence dump

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s New York hush-money criminal trial was delayed Friday until at least mid-April as the judge seeks answers about a last-minute evidence dump that the former president’s lawyers said has hampered their ability to prepare their defense.

Manhattan Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed to a 30-day delay starting Friday and scheduled a hearing for March 25 after Trump’s lawyers complained that they only recently started receiving more than 100,000 pages of documents from a previous federal investigation into the matter.

The trial had been scheduled to start on March 25. The delay means the trial would start no earlier than April 15. Prosecutors had said they wouldn’t object to a short delay. Trump’s lawyers have requested a three-month delay as well as asking for the case to be thrown out.

In a statement Friday, the Trump campaign continued to argue that the case “has no basis in law or fact, and should be dismissed.”

In a letter Friday, Merchan told Manhattan prosecutors and Trump’s defense team that he wanted to assess “who, if anyone, is at fault for the late production of the documents,” whether it hurt either side and whether any sanctions are warranted.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Donald Trump wanted trial delays, and he’s getting them. Hush-money case is latest to be put off </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Former Vice President Mike Pence says he’s not endorsing Trump </bsp-custom-headline>