(WASHINGTON) — Attorneys for former President Donald Trump on Monday asked the judge overseeing his hush money case in New York to delay the trial, currently scheduled to begin March 25, while the U.S. Supreme Court weighs Trump’s argument that he is immune from prosecution for conduct that occurred while he was in office.
Trump has not argued the charges should be dropped over the immunity claim, but that the trial be put off and prosecutors be precluded from introducing evidence.
“President Trump respectfully submits that an adjournment of the trial is appropriate to await further guidance from the Supreme Court, which should facilitate the appropriate application of the presidential immunity doctrine in this case to the evidence the People intend to offer at trial,” defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote in Monday’s court filing.
The Supreme Court announced last month that it will hear oral arguments in April on whether Trump can claim sweeping presidential immunity for actions taken while in office, after Trump asked the court to decide the matter in the face of special counsel Jack Smith’s federal election interference case against him.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election.
In their motion filed Monday, Trump’s lawyers said prosecutors plan to introduce documents and testimony relating to a time period when Trump was in office, including statements posted to Twitter about Cohen.
“The People’s recent proffer implicates presidential immunity because President Trump was President of the United States at the time of those actions in 2018. He made at least some of the 2018 statements at issue — and potentially all of them, though it is hard to be sure in light of the People’s vague in limine description — in his official capacity as the nation’s Chief Executive,” the defense motion said.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined when contacted by ABC News.
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