New York judge denies Trump’s immunity claim in hush money case

A Manhattan judge denied Donald Trump’s efforts to have his criminal trial delayed on presidential immunity grounds, saying the former president’s filing was “untimely.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Judge Juan Merchan submitted asix-page filing denying Mr Trump’s last-ditch effort to delay the trial concerning alleged hush-money payments even further after Mr Trump’s team successfully delayed the trial 30 days.

Mr Trump submitted the motion on 7 March, asking Judge Merchan to delay the trial until after the US Supreme Court decides whether the presidential immunity defence applies to criminal charges against sitting or former presidents.

The former president’s legal team argued that under presidential immunity, evidence related to correspondence Mr Trump made while president should be prohibited.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in that case on 25 April but will likely not issue a decision for days or weeks after arguments. Judge Merchan had already set the criminal trial date for 15 April.

Judge Merchan said the former president had a “myriad” of opportunities to file his motion on presidential immunity but chose not to, claiming it was “strategically” done.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Mich., Tuesday, April 2, 2024.

Mr Trump has invoked the presidential immunity defence in his upcoming criminal trials as a delay or dismissal tactic. Largely, the former president argues he should have absolute immunity from criminal prosecutions because his actions were done within his scope of official duties.

However, in the New York criminal trial, Mr Trump’s attorney argued that presidential immunity applied to evidence, rather than the prosecution