MANHATTAN (CN) — A New York appellate judge on Wednesday denied another effort from Donald Trump to delay the start of his upcoming Manhattan criminal trial — the former president’s third failed attempt in three days.
In Wednesday’s emergency request, filed under seal like his previous two, Trump claimed that the trial should be delayed so that the court can iron out a number of issues prior to jury selection. Among those issues is his recusal request of New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the case.
“Justice Merchan has a mandatory obligation to recuse himself,” said defense attorney Emil Bove, claiming Merchan’s daughter is “aligned with President [Joe] Biden, Vice President [Kamala] Harris” and other Democratic opponents of Trump.
Trump filed a recusal motion against Merchan earlier this month, arguing that the judge’s daughter presents a conflict to the case due to her work as a digital marketing strategist for a firm that has worked with Democratic political candidates. Merchan has yet to rule on the request, but he shot down a similar recusal motion from Trump last summer.
“Their recusal arguments are completely meritless,” Steven Wu of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
Bove also chided Merchan for instituting a rule requiring parties to ask for permission before filing a motion — a restriction the judge said he imposed to reduce further delays to the trial.
“Even though there are no motions that you were not permitted to file under this procedure?” asked Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division First Judicial Department, who oversaw Wednesday's impromptu hearing from a makeshift courtroom in the basement of the appellate courthouse.
“The problem is the timing,” Bove shot back. “Right now, we can’t even file a promotion letter without filing 48 hours notice to the people.”
Prosecutors took issue with a different “timing” concern, however.
“The arguments that defendant is making here just five days before jury selection is supposed to begin is based on orders as [far back] as last year,” Wu said. “But they're coming only today to ask for a stay of the trial. That is way too late.”
Wu added that staying the trial, at this point, would be “incredibly disruptive,” citing the “extraordinary effort” taken by the court, prosecutors and witnesses to get the proceedings moving.
“It really takes a village,” Wu said.
Less than 30 minutes after the hearing, Gesmer issued her brief ruling denying the interim stay request.
“After hearing argument from counsel for all parties, the court denies movant’s application for a stay of the proceedings pending resolution of the Article 78 proceeding in the nature of prohibition,” she wrote.
Attorneys Bove and Todd Blanche unsuccessfully argued on Monday and Tuesday for interim stays of the trial.
Monday’s arguments centered on Trump's request for a venue change out of Manhattan, a county the former president says is too anti-Trump to produce a fair jury. Tuesday’s focus was Trump’s gag order, which Bove argued is causing “irreparable” harm to his client.
Like at the first two hearings, Trump on Wednesday was only seeking a ruling on his interim stay request to delay the proceedings. It could be weeks before the substance of those arguments is decided by a full appellate panel.
The criminal trial has already been delayed from its original March 25 start date, thanks to a discovery complaint from Trump that pushed jury selection to April 15.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought the charges against Trump last year, claiming the former president falsified business records to pay hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Bragg says Trump instructed Michael Cohen, his attorney at the time, to make the payments while he was running for the 2016 presidency in an effort to cover up a past extramarital relationship with Daniels. Trump pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records and denied having such a relationship with Daniels.
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