The appeals court rejects Trump’s offer to stop the ongoing trial

Donald Trump stares into the camera in court

Former President Donald Trump appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in New York. (Curtis Means/DailyMail.com via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers have once again failed to convince a New York appeals court to stay his hush money trial.

Although the 11th or even 12th hour was long past, the 45th president’s defense team tried to slow down his now ongoing criminal trial over a series of allegations against New York County Supreme Court Judge Juan M. Merchan a three-stage appeal filed with the Appellate Division of the First Department of Justice.

On Tuesday, the appeals court rejected the defense’s request.

According to the defense, in the words of the court’s order, the trial judge previously “acted beyond his authority” by (1) “refusing to withdraw from the proceedings”; (2) by limiting the number of file entries and limiting public records; (3) and by ruling that Trump “is barred from invoking the doctrine of presidential immunity as an evidentiary defense in this proceeding.”

In summary and substance, the five justices listed in the order were asked to rule on essentially the same questions previously waived by a single appeals court member at a hearing in early April. In that earlier hearing, Trump’s defense argued for a stay that would have temporarily derailed Merchan’s then-upcoming trial on the three counts listed above.

Trump previewed his opposition arguments in a letter responding to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s request for an extension of confidentiality. Bragg further argued against giving the defense the opportunity to formally request a recusal. He noted that Trump had previously made unsuccessful attempts to remove Merchan from the case because the judge’s daughter was a prominent Democratic Party advisor who had worked for the defendant’s political opponents.

The trial judge decided to allow briefing on this issue.

The ex-president’s lawyers had to seek permission from Merchan to challenge the judge’s authority to oversee the case because of a previous court ruling to reduce the number of docket entries.

In that order, Merchan expressed contempt for the defense’s efforts to further delay the trial. In return, he ordered both the defense and the state to submit a one-page letter explaining why they needed to file a particular motion before filing any additional motions.

Ultimately, Trump’s team called for a recess on constitutional issues before the US Supreme Court. The defense has previously tried and failed to delay the upcoming trial indefinitely until the country’s highest court rules on the “scope of the doctrine of presidential immunity.”

To the defense’s point, Bragg’s recent admissions that the state intends to use some of Trump’s social media posts from when he was president implicate arguments for presidential immunity. Merchan rejected the defense’s arguments at this point in early April.

At the time of the first hearing, which sought a stay pending full disclosure of these complaints, Judge Ellen Gesmer narrowly abandoned the delaying tactic almost immediately after the hearing.

“After hearing the arguments of all parties, the court rejects the applicant’s request for a stay of the proceedings pending the resolution of the proceedings under Article 76 in the sense of a prohibition,” the judge wrote.

More Law&Crime coverage: “Not Honest With Us Anymore”: Michael Cohen’s former banker walks the jury step-by-step through the details and lies that led to Stormy Daniels’ payout in Trump’s hush money trial

In Tuesday’s ruling, the appeals group’s statement was slightly longer – but like the arguments, essentially the same.

“Now that I have read and submitted the documents relating to the application and due consultation has taken place thereon,” the court order states. “It is ordered that the application be rejected.”

Tuesday was the fourth day of testimony in the current criminal trial – a historic first criminal trial against a former US president. In New York, Trump is charged with 34 counts of allegedly falsifying business documents in connection with an alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump is simultaneously fighting four separate criminal charges in three states and the District of Columbia.

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