President Donald Trump's trial in Manhattan, the case of hidden money allegedly paid to actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for silence, was delayed for 30 days by Judge Juan Merchan, who scheduled a hearing this Friday, March 25, to address questions about a sudden new dump of evidence from the Department of Justice.
The trial delay comes after the feds presented thousands of pages of evidence from the old federal case involving former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
According to Merchan, the postponement is necessary to give defense attorneys time to review the large amount of evidence obtained and presented at the last minute.
Before Merchan's decision, the Justice Department notified Trump's legal team and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office that it planned to present 15,000 records of potential evidence.
This same matter, related to the alleged payment to Daniels in exchange for silence, had already been investigated by the DOJ while Trump was president.
According to Fox News, the Prosecutor's Office, headed by Bragg, "said much of the material is unrelated to the state case against Trump."
Fox News reported, "The federal prosecutors have already provided at least 104,000 pages of records—74,000 of which initially went just to Bragg's office and not to Trump's lawyers."
Bragg's office later turned over the 74,000 pages to the defense.
However, the defense asked for a 90-day postponement or dismissal of the charges against Trump, arguing that there were violations in the "discovery process," which involves exchanging evidence.
However, Merchan's decision ultimately seemed to favor the Prosecutor's Office since Bragg said he was not opposed to the 30-day delay so that Trump's legal team could review the evidence.
Trump's defense said the delay time is insufficient.
Prosecutor Bragg, in total, charged Trump with 34 felonies for allegedly falsifying business records stemming from alleged hidden money payments given to porn actress Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The case centers on allegations that the former president allegedly falsified his company's business records to hide the real reason why Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in 2016.
According to the indictment, the payment was made to cover up an extramarital sexual encounter between Trump and Daniels years ago to avoid a political scandal during the campaign.
The former president denied all allegations, including the sexual encounter with Daniels. He also pleaded not guilty to all charges.
