Donald Trump’s latest bid to delay his impending Stormy Daniels hush money trial was denied by an appeals court judge in New York on Monday, a week out from the expected start of jury selection.
The decision by First Department Appellate Division Justice Lizbeth González came down after lawyers for the former president and presumptive Republican nominee in this year’s election asked for an indefinite delay so they could attempt to get the case moved to a different location than liberal-leaning Manhattan, according to court filings.
“(Polling) and quantitative analysis of media coverage shows that a fair and impartial jury cannot be selected right now based on prejudicial pretrial publicity,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in their request for emergency relief.
Trump’s legal team has been in overdrive trying to delay what is expected to be the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president, filing a flurry of eleventh-hour motions in the lead-up to jury selection. Earlier Monday, they initiated a lawsuit against Justice Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the case, in sealed court filings.
Last week, they asked Merchan to recuse himself from the case for the second time — having failed when they last tried in August — alleging that the judge’s daughter stood to profit from Trump’s prosecution at her job at a political firm that works with Democrats and would affect the jurist’s perspective. Merchan has resoundingly rejected those claims.
Trump, 77, has pleaded not guilty to 34 felonies in the case alleging he covered up reimbursement to former fixer Michael Cohen to disguise a hush money scheme that included paying off Daniels, Playboy model Karen McDougal and a Trump Tower doorman to hide a series of alleged sex scandals from voters and secure his victory in 2016.
The criminal case is one of four he faces as he seeks the presidency once again — now encompassing 88 felony charges total — to all of which he’s pleaded not guilty.
Lawyers for Trump and a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment.
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