New York judge rejects Trump's request to delay hush money trial

A judge from the New York Court of Appeals on Monday rejected former US President Donald Trump's emergency request to delay a criminal trial on his hush money payments to an adult film star during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to media reports.

Associate Justice Lizbeth Gonzalez from an appellate court in Manhattan denied Trump's bid to delay the criminal trial scheduled for April 15 following a hearing.

Trump's legal team asked the judge to postpone the trial indefinitely as efforts are made to change the venue of the trial.

Seen as the first of this kind facing an ex-US president, the criminal trial against Trump regarding election interference would begin on April 15 with jury selection, another New York judge, Juan Merchan said earlier.

Judge Merchan continued to proceed with the preparatory work and sent a letter to Senior Trial Counsel Joshua Steinglass from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and Todd Blanch, a former federal prosecutor and Trump's lead counsel in the case on Monday regarding issues on jury selection.

Arraigned in the case in early April 2023, Trump faces charges that he falsified business records during the 2016 presidential campaign to make "hush-money" payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and keep her quiet about an alleged past sexual encounter with Trump.