It was the Trump lawyers’ third attempt this week to delay his trial for allegedly falsifying business documents to help cover up an affair before the 2016 election. Trump, the first ex-president to face criminal prosecution, has been indicted in three other jurisdictions and has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Trump lawyer Emil Bove argued in an emergency proceeding before Gesmer that New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan should have recused himself.
Prosecutors and an attorney from the courts who represented Merchan said a delay was unwarranted.
Merchan last year declined to step down from the New York criminal case after Trump’s lawyers filed a complaint about the judge’s daughter’s profession as a political consultant and his small contributions to Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and a progressive group.
Merchan’s adult daughter owns a political consulting and marketing company, which has worked on campaign materials for the Biden/Harris campaign, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and other prominent Democrats.
Trump’s lawyers recently filed a new motion arguing that Merchan must recuse himself in the interest of fairness. It was not immediately clear whether Merchan had ruled, but a decision was not public.
Judges in New York state are supposed to bow out of situations where there may be an appearance of favoritism.
Jury selection is scheduled to start Monday in Manhattan for Trump’s first criminal trial and the first ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president. He is the likely Republican nominee against Biden, a Democrat, in the November election.
On Tuesday, a New York appeals court judge denied Trump’s request to delay the trial and a gag order against him imposed by Merchan remained in effect.
A different appeals court judge on Monday rejected Trump’s attempt to delay the trial while Trump pursued an appeal to determine whether a change of venue is necessary outside Manhattan, a largely liberal part of the state.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, made shortly before the 2016 election. Prosecutors have said the payment was intended to keep her quiet about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump years earlier.
Trump’s reimbursements to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who made the payment to Daniels, were illegally documented as legal fees despite being carried out to support Trump’s campaign, according to prosecutors. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
