A New York judge on Fridaydelayed Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan until at least mid-April, postponing the only one of Mr. Trump’s four criminal cases that appeared set to begin.
The delay — lasting 30 days from the judge’s Friday decision — stems from the recent disclosure of more than 100,000 pages of records that may have some bearing on the case. Citing the records, Mr. Trump’s lawyers sought a 90-day delay of the trial, while the Manhattan prosecutors that brought the case proposed a postponement of up to 30 days.
The prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, who accused the former president of covering up a sex scandal during and after his 2016 campaign, had said the extra time would allow Mr. Trump’s lawyers to review the records that recently emerged.
Mr. Trump, who recently clinched the Republican presidential nomination for the third time, was initially set to go on trial on March 25. Now, the judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, will hold a hearing that day to determine whether the trial should be delayed further — and if so, for how long.
“There are significant questions of fact which this Court must resolve,” the judge wrote.
He also ordered both sides to produce a “detailed timeline of the events” leading up to the recent disclosure of the records.
Over the last two weeks, Mr. Trump’s lawyers and the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, received the tens of thousands of pages of documents from federal prosecutors, who in 2018 investigated a hush-money payment at the center of the case against Mr. Trump. It is unclear whether any of the records contain new evidence, or other information relevant to the case.
