A New York appeals court judge on Wednesday denied a third effort in three days by Donald Trump's attorneys to put the former president’s impending criminal trial on hold.
Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York denied Trump's third legal challenge to delay the trial after a pair of state appeals court judges rejected similar efforts by Trump on Monday and Tuesday to pause the hush money trial, which is set to begin Monday with jury selection.
The court docket for the Appellate Division showed Trump’s attorneys filed the challenge as a lawsuit invoking a provision of New York law known as Article 78. Article 78 challenges allow litigants, whether in ongoing litigation or otherwise, to seek relief from allegedly unlawful state or local government action. The documents were filed under seal.
Trump attorney Emil Bove presented a grab bag of arguments for a stay during an emergency hearing Wednesday, including reiterating his stance that the proceedings should be paused while Trump challenges what Bove called the “unacceptable and unconstitutional restrictions” Judge Juan Merchan handed down in a partial gag order last month that was expanded days later.
Bove also argued that Merchan’s ruling last week that rejected his bid to use presidential immunity as part of his defense, which found Trump waited too long to raise the issue, exceeded his authority.
“We are entitled to raise this defense,” Bove said, while complaining that another order of the judge's directing Trump to ask for permission to file motions was unfair, as well.
Bove also suggested that Merchan has been “operating under an appearance of impropriety,” citing the political work by the judge’s daughter on behalf of the political firm Authentic Campaigns, which worked with President Joe Biden’s campaign in 2020. He said Merchan should remove himself from the case because of the alleged "conflict."
Lisa Evans, a prosecutor for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, pushed back, arguing that delaying the trial would "cause enormous disruption" and that there's no reason to do so.
“There is no evidence that Judge Merchan stands to benefit from the trial," Evans said.
Steven Wu, another prosecutor for the DA's office, called Bove's arguments “completely meritless” and suggested that delaying the trial could create conflicts with Trump's legal proceedings elsewhere.
The hearing got underway shortly after 4 p.m. ET.
On Monday, Trump filed a separate Article 78 petition with the Appellate Division seeking to halt the trial by arguing he can't get a fair trial in Manhattan. A judge denied that request Monday, and a separate judge denied his request to delay the trial Tuesday while he appeals Merchan’s gag order as "unconstitutional."
Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges he falsified business records relating to hush money payments that were made during the 2016 presidential campaign.
