Judge Merchan Sides With Alvin Bragg Over Donald Trump

Acting New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has sided with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in the battle over delaying former President Donald Trump's felony hush money trial.

Merchan ruled on Friday that the trial would be delayed by 30 days, a move that Bragg previously said he would support. Trump's legal team had requested that the trial be postponed by 90 days or dismissed.

Merchan ruled on Friday that the trial would be delayed by 30 days, a move that Bragg previously said he would support. Trump's legal team had requested that the trial be postponed by 90 days or dismissed.

Trump's other three criminal cases have been moving forward slowly while the former president campaigns as the presumptive GOP nominee in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

In comments to Newsweek, Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung repeated claims about Bragg committing "misconduct," while suggesting that the 30-day delay was not long enough and arguing that Merchan should have opted to dismiss the "hoax" instead.

"President Trump and his counsel have been consistent and steadfast that this case has no basis in law or fact, and should be dismissed," Cheung said via email. "We will continue to fight to end this Hoax, and all of the other Crooked Joe Biden - directed Witch Hunts, once and for all."

Newsweek reached out for comment to the office of Bragg via email on Friday

In a court filing on Thursday, Bragg said that his office was "prepared to proceed to trial" as scheduled but would not oppose a delay of up to 30 days to give the defense time to review an abundance of materials in the case. However, Bragg argued that there was no basis to dismiss the charges against Trump.

Trump's team requested a longer delay or a dismissal over allegations that Bragg "actively sought to prevent President Trump from obtaining critical materials to which he is entitled." Bragg's office has released over 100,000 pages of documents to Trump's lawyers and argues that any difficulties experienced are "a function of [the] defendant's own delay."

In the footnote of a letter sent to Merchan on Friday, Trump's team complained that the 30-day delay "would conflict with Passover" and "prevent or inhibit the ability of observant Jews to participate as jurors." The lawyers also suggested the new schedule would clash with Trump's federal documents trail in Florida, which is widely expected to be delayed for at least several months.

Bragg charged the former president with 34 felony counts last spring for allegedly falsifying business records, accusing him of attempting to conceal payments to former adult film star Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, during his first presidential campaign.

Trump has denied having an affair with Clifford and has pleaded not guilty to all of his criminal charges. Even before officially announcing his 2024 candidacy, the former president has repeatedly claimed that all of his legal difficulties are part of a Democrat-led "witch hunt" and amount to "election interference."

Prior to the delay, the New York trial had been scheduled to start on March 25. It is still expected to be the first criminal trial involving Trump to actually begin, with the case also having been the first to charge the ex-president with crimes.

The hush money trial is expected to last for about six weeks. While Trump may be able to pardon himself of any potential federal convictions if he returns to the White House after winning the November election, he would not be able to exercise pardon power if he is convicted of state crimes in New York or Georgia.

Update 3/15, 6:12 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and context.