By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York’s attorney general urged a state judge to reject Donald Trump’s bid to delay her civil fraud case against him, and said the former U.S. president might use his 2024 White House run as an excuse for further delay.
In a Wednesday night court filing, Attorney General Letitia James said her office had provided Trump and other defendants with an “enormous quantity” of material, including 1.7 million documents and interview transcripts for 56 witnesses.
She said that negates their plea for an extra six months to gather evidence to defend themselves adequately at trial, now scheduled for Oct. 2, and accused them of being slow to conduct their own witness depositions.
“The record defendants have and are compiling is more than sufficient to afford them due process and prevent the trial from becoming a game of surprise,” James said.
“When the calendar turns over into 2024, Donald J. Trump will be in the midst of a campaign for President,” she added. “Defendants have used his campaign as a reason for delay in both 2016 and 2020. There is no reason to believe 2024 will be any different.”
Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond on Thursday to requests for comment.
Arthur Engoron, the judge who oversees the case, has scheduled a March 21 hearing to consider the trial schedule.
James sued Trump, three of his adult children, the Trump Organization and others last September, following a three-year probe.
The $250 million lawsuit concerns an alleged decade-long scheme to manipulate more than 200 asset valuations and Trump’s net worth, to win better terms from banks and insurers.
Trump, a Republican, has called James’ case a partisan witch hunt. James is a Democrat.
The case is separate from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal probe into a hush money payment to keep porn star Stormy Daniels quiet before the 2016 presidential election about her alleged affair with Trump.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Mark Potter)
