Donald Trump just lost one of his far-flung attempts to thwart his upcoming criminal hush money trial in New York, which is set to start in less than two weeks. This latest failed effort was a presidential immunity claim, but Judge Juan Merchan rejected it out of hand.
To be clear, this was a separate immunity claim from the one in Trump’s federal election interference case; that one is pending Supreme Court review, with oral argument set for April 25. Citing the Supreme Court’s decision to review the claim in the Jan. 6-related case, Trump sought an adjournment last month in the New York case, and he also sought to preclude evidence in the New York case based on immunity.
But the New York judge rejected Trump’s outlandish bid for the simple reason that it was untimely. The former president could have raised it much earlier but only did so last month. Indeed, Merchan pointed out that Trump raised the issue just 17 days before the hush money case was previously set to go to trial, on March 25. The last-minute nature of the request “raises real questions about the sincerity and actual purpose of the motion,” Merchan wrote.
So the judge, who also had to expand the former president’s gag order this week, seems to have had more than enough of Trump’s games. It’s the latest indication that Merchan has every intention of moving the case forward — and will view any further such delay attempts dimly. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for weekly updates on the top legal stories, including news from the Supreme Court, the Donald Trump cases and more.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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