Donald Trump has asked this Monday to the New York justice to postpone for at least a month his historic criminal trial, scheduled to begin on March 25, in which he is accused of bribery to the porn actress Stephanie Cliffordknown as Stormy Daniels. The former US president's lawyers have presented the argument for his criminal immunity, which will be debated by the Washington Supreme Court starting April 25.
The Manhattan Prosecutor's Office accused the former president of 34 crimes in relation to $130,000 (118,993 euros at today's exchange rate) that he paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign to hide an alleged extramarital affair, payments that Trump hid with the collaboration of his then lawyer, Michael Cohen.
According to a court document dated March 7 and made public on Monday by the New York State Supreme Court for the Manhattan jurisdiction, this “court should postpone the trial pending the Supreme Court's review of the scope of the doctrine.” of presidential immunity.
On March 6, the highest court in the United States set April 25 as the date for the nine supreme judges to debate the criminal immunity claimed by Donald Trump as former president (2017-2021), after having addressed this very delicate issue on February 28, eight months before the presidential elections. The 77-year-old Republican candidate, who is facing four criminal proceedings, resorts to various resources to judge his case as late as possible, in any case after the November 5 elections.
The federal trial in Washington has already been postponed
Trump is due to appear on March 25 in a criminal trial in New York – the first for a former US president – in relation to payments made to a former pornographic film star, Stormy Daniels. The New York prosecutor of Manhattan, Alvin Bragg, accuses him of 34 accounting frauds punishable by up to four years in prison if the former tenant of the White House is found guilty. However, the courts could impose an alternative sentence and not send you to prison.
Donald Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused of cooking the accounting of his Trump Organization real estate empire to hide $130,000 paid to Stormy Daniels, her real name Stephanie Clifford, just before the November 2016 presidential election. According to the indictment, She had to remain silent about an alleged sexual relationship in 2006, when he was already married to Melania Trump. Mr Trump denies any relationship with Ms Clifford.
Trump has already managed to delay a federal criminal trial in Washington that was due to begin on March 4 on charges of “conspiracy against the US State”, namely his illegal attempts, notably on January 6, 2021, to annul the results of the November 2020 election won by Joe Biden. The process has been suspended until the Supreme Court rules on the issue of presidential criminal immunity.