Donald Trump on Monday sought to delay his upcoming trial in the 2016 Stormy Daniels hush money case, arguing that it shouldn’t go forward until the Supreme Court rules on his presidential immunity claim.
In Manhattan Supreme Court filings, Trump’s lawyers said evidence prosecutors intend to present at the criminal trial — set to be Trump’s first of four and potentially the only one he attends before the election — is related to his outstanding immunity claim before the nation’s high court.
“Although [prosecutors] did not describe the evidence they intend to offer in detail, it appears that the evidence includes public statements by President Trump and posts to his official Twitter account, as well as testimony from unspecified witnesses,” Trump lawyers Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche wrote.
They added that that evidence “implicates presidential immunity because President Trump was President of the United States at the time of those actions in 2018.”
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on April 25 before deciding whether Trump’s actions as president were immune from criminal charges brought by special prosecutor Jack Smith in his federal election subversion case.
It’s unclear how long the justices will wait to rule after hearing arguments, but it could be months.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office did not immediately comment.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felonies in the case that alleges he covered up reimbursement to his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen for a hush money payoff to Daniels in 2017 to disguise a “catch and kill” scheme illegally orchestrated to secure his presidential victory the year before.
This story will be updated.
