New York: For the third time in three days, a New York appellate judge has rejected former US President Donald Trump's attempt to delay his hush money trial, CNN reported.
The judge's decision comes after Trump requested the New York appeals court for emergency relief to stop the criminal trial scheduled to begin on Monday from going ahead so he could appeal a lower court's ruling on presidential immunity and have the judge recused from the case.
Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer announced the decision just minutes after hearing arguments to reject the interim motion to stay the trial. Trump's petition in court on Wednesday is the latest in what has been a series of actions by the former US President at the appeals court this week to try to stop the trial before its scheduled start.
Trump could still appeal the denied motions to New York state's highest court, the Court of Appeals. That court, however, does not have to accept the motion, CNN reported.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Trump's attorney Emil Bove said that his client was seeking a stay due to three issues that go to the "core, fundamental fairness" of the trial: recusal, restriction on filing defence motions, and presidential immunity. Bove said, "This can only be done once, and it must be done right because of the impact it will have on this election." He further said, "There are questions about the judge. There are questions about our ability to file motions."
In response, the Manhattan district attorney's office requested the court to reject the latest attempt to delay the trial. Manhattan District Attorney's Office Chief of Appeals Steven Wu said, "There is a powerful public interest to ensure this trial moves forward on the scheduled date."
Earlier this week, Trump's lawyers urged the appeals court to delay the trial so he could challenge a gag order preventing the former US president from making statements regarding witnesses, family members of the judge and prosecutors, and jurors. They also said that the trial could not take place in Manhattan due to pretrial publicity. (ANI)
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