Former President Trump is scheduled to appear in a downtown New York City courtroom today for a hearing related to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s hush money payment case.
The hearing is expected to begin at 10 a.m. and last several hours.
Mr. Trump’s trial was originally scheduled to begin today with jury selection. But earlier this month, Judge Juan Melchan ordered the former president and his lawyers time to review a record of 15,000 potential pieces of evidence shared by the Justice Department in previous federal investigations. The trial was postponed until mid-April.
Trump trial: Here’s the position on each case against the former president and potential Republican nominee
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said much of the new material is unrelated to the state’s case against Trump. Federal prosecutors have already produced more than 100,000 pages of records for review. But Fox News Digital has learned that at least 74,000 pages of records were initially sent only to Mr. Bragg’s office and not to Mr. Trump’s legal team.
Judge postpones Trump’s hush trial amid last-minute evidence destruction by federal authorities
Trump’s lawyers had asked for a 90-day delay or the charges against him to be dropped, citing violations of the “discovery process” in which both sides exchange evidence. The defense argued that a 30-day postponement was “insufficient.”
New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg (right) is investigating former President Trump for allegedly paying hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. (Shane Bevell/NCAA Photo via Getty Images/Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Mr. Trump’s lawyers have said the materials from the federal investigation are critical to Mr. Trump’s defense in the state lawsuit brought by Mr. Bragg.
Trump lawyer moves to postpone Manhattan trial until Scotus rule on executive privilege ends
Mr. Bragg indicted Mr. Trump on 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Bragg alleged that Trump “repeatedly fraudulently falsified New York business records to cover up his criminal conduct in concealing information harmful to voters during the 2016 presidential election.”
President Trump asserts his innocence and says, “I never thought something like this could happen in America.”
The charges are related to allegations of hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign.
In 2019, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York chose not to indict Trump in connection with payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Federal Election Commission also abandoned its investigation into the issue in 2021.
This is a developing story. Please check back for the latest information.
