A state appeals court judge has denied Donald Trump’s 11th-hour attempt to delay his New York hush money case while the former president makes a series of last-ditch efforts to indefinitely stall his first-ever criminal trial, less than one week before it is set to begin.
An appeals court docket on Monday indicated that the former president filed litigation against New York Justice Juan Merchan, who imposed a gag order preventing parties in the case from targeting members of the court, attorneys and their families. The documents remained under seal.
Mr Trump’s attorneys also pressed the court to move the case out of Manhattan, arguing that New Yorkers are biased against him and he would be denied a fair trial. An appellate judge on Monday afternoon rejected Mr Trump’s attempt to stall the trial while he tries to move the case.
The appeals court will hear arguments on his attempts to lift the gag order on Tuesday.
Mr Trump’s attempts to delay the proceedings follow his repeated failures to stop what will be the first of four criminal trials he is expected to face in the coming months.
Last year, in the first criminal indictment against him, a grand jury charged the former president with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with repayments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen, who arranged a hush-money scheme to prevent the release of potentially compromising stories about Mr Trump and his affairs.