1 of 2 | New York State Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg enters the District Attorney's office in New York City on March 22. File Photo by Louis Lanzano/ UPI |
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March 14 (UPI) -- Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg signaled Thursday that he is open to delaying the start of Donald Trump's hush-money trial for up to 30 days.
Bragg said in a court filing that he would not oppose Trump's request to delay the trial to allow the defense to review newly acquired records. The prosecution recently received records from federal prosecutors who also investigated alleged hush-money payments Trump made to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels.
Trump faces 34 charges in the case related to falsifying records and paying the actress to remain quiet about an affair leading up to his 2016 presidential campaign.
The trial is slated to start March 25.
"Although the people are prepared to proceed to trial on March 25, 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 his filing.
Trump's team has requested a longer delay, up to 90 days, due to the volume of discovery materials in the case. According to Bragg, more than 30,000 pages of new material was acquired from the Justice Department on Wednesday.
Bragg adds that prosecutors requested these records more than a year ago.
The trial in Manhattan is expected to be the first of four criminal trials Trump may face. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon held a hearing in Florida on Trump's motion to dismiss the trial over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. She had stated that while the trial is scheduled to start on May 20, it will likely be delayed, possibly until August.
Trump also faces criminal charges for his role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Fulton County, Ga., and for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in Washington.
