NEW YORK, United States: Donald Trump on Monday asked for a delay in his money case until the US Supreme Court rules on his claim for presidential immunity.
Trump, 77, a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, asked the New York judge overseeing the case to postpone the trial. He is scheduled to go on trial in Manhattan on March 25 on charges of falsifying business records.
In a motion filed Monday, Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Juan Manuel Merchan to delay the state trial until the nation’s highest court rules on the former president’s immunity claim. The court is scheduled to hear arguments on immunity on April 25, and a decision is expected by the end of June or early July.
Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly requested that his various trials be postponed until after the November presidential election, when all federal charges would be dropped if he wins.
The former president faces 34 counts of accounting fraud related to pre-election payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump’s lawyers said the payments date back to before the 2016 election, but prosecutors plan to introduce evidence that dates back to his time in the White House.
They argued that because Trump was president of the United States at the time of the actions in 2018, it raised the issue of presidential immunity.
The scandal dates back to the final days of the 2016 election, when Trump as a political outsider was en route to a shock victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
A New York grand jury indicted Trump in March 2023 for making payments to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Prosecutors say the money was paid to silence the adult star over claims she had a date with Trump in 2006 — a year after he married a former model, Melania Trump.
