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Trump seeks delay of New York “hush money” trial as Supreme Court weighs presidential immunity

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Just two weeks before his first criminal trial is scheduled to begin in New York, former President Donald Trump has once again sought to push back its start.

In a motion filed March 7 and made public Monday, Trump’s attorneys asked Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan to delay the trial, which is currently set for March 25, until after the Supreme Court rules on whether Trump is shielded from criminal prosecution by “presidential immunity” in another one of his criminal cases. Lower federal courts found that no such immunity exists, and Trump asked the Supreme Court to review those rulings last month. The justices agreed, and arguments are scheduled for April 25.

“The adjournment is warranted to ensure proper adjudication of the presidential immunity defense and to prevent improper evidence of official acts from being used in the unprecedented fashion apparently contemplated by the People,” wrote Trump’s attorneys. They pointed to filings by the state indicating that prosecutors planned to enter several pieces of evidence from 2018, when Trump was in the White House.

The New York case stems from a “hush money” payment made by an attorney for Trump to adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in the days before the 2016 election. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records tied to payments reimbursing the attorney, Michael Cohen, in 2017. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies all wrongdoing.

Trump previously sought to have the state case moved to federal court in 2023. A federal judge rejected that effort, writing that he didn’t believe the reimbursements were tied to Trump’s service as president.

“Reimbursing Cohen for advancing hush money to Stephanie Clifford cannot be considered the performance of a constitutional duty,” wrote U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. “Falsifying business records to hide such reimbursement, and to transform the reimbursement into a business expense for Trump and income to Cohen, likewise does not relate to a presidential duty.”

Hellerstein also wrote that Trump “has expressly waived any argument premised on a theory of absolute presidential immunity.”

Trump had argued that his payments were “official acts,” an argument repeated in his latest filing.

“There are several types of evidence that implicate the concept of official acts for purposes of presidential immunity, and therefore must be precluded,” his attorneys wrote.

A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment.

At a June 2023 hearing before Hellerstein, an attorney for Bragg argued the reimbursements to Cohen represented “personal payments to a personal lawyer” for Trump.



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CBS News rides along with Texas sergeant at U.S.-Mexico border

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CBS News rides along with Texas sergeant at U.S.-Mexico border – CBS News


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President-elect Donald Trump says he will remove millions of immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S. through his mass deportation plan once he takes office in January. CBS News immigration and politics reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez rode along Wednesday in El Paso with a sergeant for the Texas Department of Public Safety to discuss border policy.

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Canada’s Trudeau faces calls to resign amid Trump tariff threat

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Canada’s Trudeau faces calls to resign amid Trump tariff threat – CBS News


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President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canada haven’t even gone into effect and they’ve already plunged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government into turmoil. On Monday, Trudeau’s finance minister and deputy prime minister resigned, sharing a sharply critical assessment of her old boss in a public letter. Mercedes Stephenson, Ottawa bureau chief for Canada’s Global News, joins “America Decides” to discuss Trudeau’s future.

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Supreme Court to decide on TikTok’s future in the U.S.

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Supreme Court to decide on TikTok’s future in the U.S. – CBS News


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The Supreme Court plans to hear arguments in January on a challenge to a new law that could lead to the popular social media app TikTok being banned in the U.S. The Biden administration and lawmakers say the Chinese government’s ability to collect data from TikTok poses a significant national security risk, while the app and its Chinese parent company ByteDance argue that the law is unconstitutional. CBS News Supreme Court producer Catherine Cole has more.

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