FILE - Former President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan criminal court, Feb. 15, 2024, in New York. Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed Friday, March 16, to delay former President Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial in New York until mid-April after his lawyers said they needed more time to sift through new evidence. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
Judge Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers in New York, Thursday, March 14, 2024. Merchan could become the first judge ever to oversee a former U.S. president’s criminal trial. He's presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)