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| Reuters |
The decision of Judge Juan Merchán to delay the first criminal trial in history against a former U.S. president represents another victory for Trump, who has tried to slow down his various legal entanglements as he prepares to face off against Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 election.
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The case in the state court of New York in Manhattan, which was supposed to have begun on March 25, was the first of four criminal charges filed against Trump last year.
While none of the other three cases have a fixed trial date, the delay of the New York trial could complicate the scheduling of the others.
In a previous court appearance, prosecutors from the Manhattan district office said they were ready to proceed with the trial on March 25, but did not oppose a 30-day delay to ensure that Trump had the opportunity to review the new material.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the New York case of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal the payment of $130,000 by his former lawyer Michael Cohen to porn actress Stormy Daniels for her silence about a sexual encounter she says they had a decade before the 2016 election, an event the candidate denies.
The Republican faces three other federal and state criminal charges, including two stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Biden, as well as one linked to his handling of confidential government documents after leaving office in 2021.