- The online court docket showed a sealed filing
- Comes after Judge Merchan rejected the attempt to postpone the case last week
- Trump is also fighting a gag order imposed by a judge after attacks on his daughter
Donald Trump is making another last-ditch effort to delay his Stormy Daniels trial, this time by suing a judge overseeing the case who has placed a gag order on him.
The final push comes in the form of a lawsuit that Trump wants to file against Judge Juan Merchan. suggested in court files, but not yet public.
The paperwork filed by Trump’s team remains sealed. It follows a ruling by Merchan to “muzzle” Trump for attacks on court staff, witnesses and prosecutors related to the case. He extended the joke to family members after Trump’s repeated tax on his daughter, who works for a digital advocacy firm that does work for prominent Democrats.
Former President Donald Trump is suing Judge Juan Merchan in an effort to delay his criminal trial, which begins Monday
Trump has since reposted third-party criticism of the judge and his daughter, and his lawyer last week tried to have Merchan withdrawn from the case.
The trial against Trump starts on Monday and would be the first criminal trial against a former American president. The trial will begin with jury selection and will feature blockbuster testimony and another series of court hearings from the former president.
The move, which is not expected to be decisive, follows attempts by Trump to delay the case, which was originally scheduled to begin last month.
Sources told the New York Times that Trump’s lawyers planned to ask an appeals court to delay the trial while challenging the silence order.
The offer comes days after Judge Merchan denied Trump’s attempt to delay the trial until the U.S. Supreme Court can rule on his claim to immunity from prosecution since his time as president.
Lawyers for President Donald Trump have asked a New York judge to postpone his Stormy Daniels trial based on immunity issues set to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court this month. Now Trump’s team reportedly plans to sue Merchan and ask an appeals court to delay the case
Judge Juan Merchan last week denied Trump’s motion to delay the case, writing that he had “countless opportunities” to raise the issue sooner
Trump lawsuit alleges falsification of company records related to ‘hush-up’ payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump
“Defendant had numerous opportunities to advance the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024,” Merchan wrote. He wrote that Trump was “well aware” of his ability to make an immunity claim sooner.
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg rejected in a filing Wednesday the claim that Merchan was biased and could not fairly preside over the trial.
“This string of innuendos is far from evidence,” Bragg’s office wrote. “There’s just nothing new here.”
Trump’s lawyers have called the silence order an overreach that violates his First Amendment rights.