Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said on Thursday that he does not oppose a 30-day trial delay in his hush-money case in New York against former President Donald Trump that is set to start later this month.
The prosecutor wrote in a filing that his team is “ready” for a trial on March 25 — which is the date picked for jury selection to begin — but Bragg added that “distinctive circumstances” have them open to having the timeline get pushed back.
In particular, Bragg wrote, the prosecution does “not oppose a brief adjournment of up to 30 days to permit sufficient time for defendant to review” 31,000 pages of additional records produced on Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) in response to a subpoena from Trump.
The USAO “also indicated that an additional production would follow by next week,” Bragg said, adding later that “the timing of the current production of additional materials from the USAO is a function of defendant’s own delay.”
Bragg has accused Trump of trying to cover up hush-money payments, including to former adult film star Stormy Daniels, in a bid to conceal damaging information as part of a “catch-and-kill” scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Trump, who denies any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, had sought for the case to be dismissed. However, a judge rejected that bid last month and affirmed the March 25 trial date.
At the time, a lawyer for Trump called the decision a “grave injustice” while bemoaning “compressed and expedited schedules” across multiple legal fights that have coalesced this election season as the former president seeks another term in the White House.
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While a trial starting in late March would have it fall right in the middle of a busy period during the GOP primaries, over the past couple weeks, Trump’s last remaining rival, Nikki Haley, suspended her campaign and the former president secured enough delegates for the nomination.
Trump is facing other criminal cases and civil litigation in which he has broadly denied wrongdoing. The prosecutor in a 2020 election interference case in Georgia is facing a possible dismissal, while the federal cases against Trump await a presidential immunity decision by the Supreme Court.
