Prosecutors say Donald Trump’s hush money trial should start April 15 without further delay

By MICHAEL R. SISAK
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — New York prosecutors have urged a judge to start Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial April 15, saying defense requests for further delays or dismissal of the case because of a last-minute evidence dump are a “red herring.” Prosecutors said Thursday the majority of evidence the Republican ex-president’s lawyers received recently was “entirely immaterial, duplicative or substantially duplicative” of evidence they’d already been given. Judge Juan M. Merchan last week postponed the trial’s start from this coming Monday until mid-April after Trump’s lawyers complained the late arrival of evidence from a previous federal investigation was hindering their preparations. The judge will hold a hearing to address the evidence issue.