Donald Trump (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell), Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
As a plethora of indictments and appeals surround former President Donald Trump in various locations. President Donald Trump But Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is willing to delay Trump’s upcoming hush-money and election interference trial scheduled for March 25, as per a notice to a New York court on Thursday.
In the 3-page notice, Bragg accused Trump of causing delays that canceled the former president’s request to adjourn. the former president’s motion to adjournHowever, Bragg mentioned that prosecutors are ready to proceed with the criminal prosecution of a former president in slightly over a week, but they are not opposed to Trump’s request to pause proceedings, although not for the 90 days he asked for.
Instead, Bragg's office is prepared to delay the trial's start for 30 days so Trump can examine a large amount of evidence and relevant records in discovery, including documents that Bragg has been reviewing since June 2023.
A day ago, the district attorney’s office provided 31,000 records to Trump, but the motion suggests that “those records seem to include materials related to the case, including materials requested from the U.S. Attorney’s Office over a year ago, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office previously refused to provide.”
However, Bragg mentioned that another batch will be provided next week.
Reports indicate that 73,000 pages of records produced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office since Trump filed his adjournment motion were largely “irrelevant,” according to Bragg.
Aside from 172 pages of witness statements, which Trump had enough time to review before the trial.
Bragg stated, “We note that the timing of the current production of additional materials from the USAO is a function of defendant’s own delay.”
The district attorney also explained that when prosecutors requested full grand jury records related to Trump fixer Michael Cohen’s campaign finance convictions from the U.S. Attorney’s Office last year, which contained exonerating material concerning Trump’s fixer in the hush-money scandal, they received tapes, witness lists, various other records, grand jury subpoenas and their returns, and other exhibits presented to the grand jury.
“In response, the USAO produced a subset of the materials we requested, which we timely and fully disclosed to defendant on June 8, 2023, more than nine months ago,” Bragg stated.
He emphasized:
Despite having access to those materials since June, defendant raised no concerns to the People about the sufficiency of our efforts to obtain materials from the USAO before last week; instead, defendant waited until January 18, 2024 to subpoena additional materials from the USAO and then consented to repeated extensions of the deadline for the USAO’s determination.
The timing of the USAO’s productions is a result solely of defendant’s delay despite the People’s diligence.
Still, Bragg said a short adjournment of 30 days would be adequate.