CNN
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Former President Donald Trump has asked a New York appeals court for emergency relief to stop the criminal hush money trial scheduled to begin on Monday so he can appeal a lower court’s ruling on presidential immunity and have the judge recused from the case.
The court filings on Wednesday are the latest in what has been a blitz of actions by Trump at the appeals court this week to try to stop the trial before its scheduled start.
Earlier this week, Trump’s legal team asked the appeals court to delay the trial so he can challenge a gag order stopping the former president from making statements about witnesses, family members of the judge and prosecutors, and jurors. Trump’s lawyers also argued that the trial can’t take place in Manhattan because of pretrial publicity. Both times, the requests to take emergency steps to delay the trial were swiftly denied.
A hearing over Wednesday’s filings has not yet been set.
In a brief two-page notice of petition filed on Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers said Judge Juan Merchan overstepped his authority when he issued a ruling denying Trump’s motion to postpone the trial until after the Supreme Court rules on whether the former president may claim immunity in an unrelated criminal case involving the 2020 election. Merchan denied the motion, saying Trump filed it too late.
The notice also says Trump is seeking to challenge the judge’s ability to oversee the trial. Previously, Trump filed a motion asking Merchan to recuse himself from the case saying the judge is conflicted based on work his daughter does for a political consulting firm that has worked for Democrats. The judge has not yet ruled on that motion.
After CNN reviewed the notice of petition on the public docket, the filing was sealed.
The court filing posted on the public docket does not indicate that Trump is seeking an emergency hearing before the appeals court to delay the trial in this notice of petition.
After CNN reviewed the petition on the docket, the filing was sealed.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
