Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a news conference at his office in New York City on Feb. 22, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Thursday that he does oppose postponing the start of the criminal hush money trial of Donald Trump by up to 30 days to give the former Republican president’s attorneys time to review certain case materials.
Bragg also said that his prosecution team is prepared to start that trial on March 25 as currently scheduled.
But, “We do not oppose an adjournment in an abundance of caution and to ensure that defendant has sufficient time to review the new materials,” Bragg wrote in a filing in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Trump is charged there with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Bragg in his filing noted that federal prosecutors on Wednesday had submitted 31,000 pages of records to his office and Trump’s lawyers.
Another production of documents from federal prosecutors is due next week, Bragg said.
The D.A. added that the late arrival of those materials “is a result solely of defendant’s delay despite the People’s diligence.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung, however, claimed in a statement that Bragg agreed to a delay “after conceding serious discovery violations.”
“President Trump and his counsel have been consistent and steadfast that this case has no basis in law or fact, and should be dismissed,” Cheung said.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, which is one of four criminal prosecutions he faces while also preparing to run against President Joe Biden in November’s election.
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