Trump asks judge to pause Stormy Daniels trial until Supreme Court rules on immunity
March 11, 2024
Donald Trump asked a judge Monday to delay his New York criminal case until the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed his presidential immunity claim in another prosecution.
The former president is scheduled to stand trial beginning March 25 in Manhattan on 34 counts of falsification of business records related to his hush money payments to adult movie star Stormy Daniels, but Trump asked Judge Juan Merchan to put the case on pause until the high court ruled, reported Reuters.
The Supreme Court isn't scheduled to start hearing arguments in the immunity case until April 25.
Prosecutors allege that Trump asked his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen to pay $130,000 to Daniels just ahead of the 2016 election to prevent her from talking about their sexual encounter a decade earlier.
The former president is accused of then falsely recording his reimbursement of Cohen as a legal expense.
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Trump has been indicted four times on 91 felony counts, although none of the other three cases have firm trial dates.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear his claim of broad presidential immunity related to his Washington, D.C., election subversion case and will hear oral arguments next month, although a ruling may not come until their term ends in late June, which could prevent the other cases from reaching trial before the November election.
Trump has been found liable in other courts for business fraud, sexual abuse and defamation and ordered to pay more than half a billion dollars in judgments.