Manhattan DA Avoids Punishment for Document Dump Causing Delay in Trump Criminal Trial Kickoff

Manhattan prosecutors will not face penalties for a last-minute document dump that caused a delay in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial, as ruled by Judge Juan M. Merchan on Thursday.

The defense had requested sanctions against prosecutors for releasing nearly 200,000 pages of evidence just weeks before the scheduled trial start date. The documents were related to a previous federal investigation. Merchan granted a delay from March 25 to April 15 to allow Trump’s legal team to review the material. However, he rejected claims of prosecutorial misconduct and refused to further delay, dismiss, or exclude key witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels from testifying.

In his written ruling, Merchan stated that Trump was not prejudiced by the document dump as he had sufficient time to prepare and respond to the evidence. He reached this conclusion after evaluating submissions from both sides and timelines provided at a hearing on March 25.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office did not comment on the ruling, and Trump’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. The trial, which featured testimony from 22 witnesses including Cohen and Daniels, is moving towards closing arguments and jury deliberations.

Trump’s legal team accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office of deliberately neglecting evidence from the 2018 federal investigation to gain an advantage and harm Trump’s chances of re-election. Cohen, a key prosecution witness, served time in prison as part of the federal case.