Bragg says newly released papers in the Trump case hold little value

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said in court filings Thursday that a large cache of newly released documents contained little that could affect or delay the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, which was set to begin in mid-April.

In a surprising move, the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, agreed last week to grant a brief delay in the trial, which was set to begin March 25, to give Trump’s lawyers time to view the files. The documents had been turned over by federal prosecutors investigating Michael Cohen, the former president’s longtime fixer.

In Thursday’s filing, Mr. Bragg’s office downplayed the scope of the documents, though it said its review was continuing.

“The public now has good reason to believe that this production contains only limited materials relevant to the subject matter of this case that have not previously been disclosed to the suspect,” the filing said. “The vast majority of production is completely intangible, duplicating or substantially duplicating previously disclosed materials.”

It added that the current delay – until April 15 – “provides a more than reasonable amount of time for the suspect to review the information provided.”

Mr. Trump’s legal team has asked the judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, to dismiss the charges entirely or delay the trial until the summer, blaming Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors for the late disclosure of the documents.

The documents in question came from the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York successfully prosecuted Mr. Cohen in 2018. Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors have denied responsibility for the delay, noting that it was Mr. Trump’s lawyers who waited until early this year to subpoena the documents from the Southern District.

Trump is about to become the first former US president to face criminal trial. The prosecutors’ case, filed almost exactly a year ago, centers on a hush money payment Mr. Cohen made to a porn star in the days leading up to the 2016 presidential election, who said she had had an affair with Mr. Trump. Prosecutors have argued that the cover-up deprived voters of the opportunity to fully assess Trump’s candidacy.

Mr. Trump, who is again the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has denied the allegations and portrayed the case as a politically motivated punch by Mr. Bragg, a Democrat.

This is a developing story and will be updated.