Welcome back, Deadline: Legal Newsletter readers. It was another frenzied week in the legal world of Donald Trump and the Supreme Court — worlds that collided with the filing of his immunity brief to the justices. The former president also scrambled to secure a bond while appealing his staggering civil-fraud loss, and he got some good news in his Florida and Georgia criminal cases. All ahead of a crucial hearing in Manhattan on Monday, which should have been the start of his hush money trial but, like so many other cases, caught the delay bug.
In the civil fraud case, Trump’s lawyers said that their client couldn’t secure a proper bond while he appeals his nine-figure loss (a position that Trump himself then undercut by claiming that he has almost $500 million in cash). New York Attorney General Letitia James questioned the former president’s inability to get a bond ahead of the Monday deadline. If he can’t, then James can start going after his assets. But my MSNBC colleague Lisa Rubin explains why James might not immediately move to seize or sell any of the adjudicated fraudster’s best-known properties, like Trump Tower. The clock is ticking.
Also on Monday in New York, Trump’s lawyers and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecutors are set to square off before Judge Juan Merchan. They were supposed to start picking a jury that day, but the disclosure of Michael Cohen-related materials from federal prosecutors pushed the start date until mid-April, at least. Merchan called the hearing to figure out what exactly is going on with these materials and how it affects the trial timing. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, Judge Aileen Cannon is flying off the handle in Florida. Indeed, the Trump appointee may have made her strangest move yet. Though she still hasn’t set a firm trial date, she thought it would be a good idea to start figuring out jury instructions. That’s unusual enough, but she also did so in a way that seemingly embraced the former…
Read the full article here
