Judge says he is open to moving date of Trump's hush money trial

The New York judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's criminal prosecution involving hush money paid to adult actress Stormy Daniels signaled he is open to moving the date of the trial, currently scheduled for March, due to "the many recent developments involving Mr. Trump."

Judge Juan Merchan, in a letter to defense attorney Todd Blanche, said he would schedule a hearing this coming February to consider whether it makes sense to move the trial.

Merchan said he would no longer hold a conference to discuss the schedule in the next week, as had been planned.

"In light of the many recent developments involving Mr Trump and his rapidly evolving trial schedule, I do not believe it would be fruitful for us to conference this case on September 15 to discuss scheduling," Merchan wrote.

A judge in Washington, D.C., last month set a March 4 trial date for Trump's federal election interference trial, and Trump's classified documents trial is also scheduled to get underway in the spring.

Merchan said it made more sense to discuss scheduling for the New York case in February when he said "We will have a much better sense at that time whether there are any actual conflicts."

Trump has pleaded not guilty in New York to nearly three dozen felony counts of falsifying business records related to the $130,000 hush payment made to Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The trial is among six criminal and civil trials Trump faces in the coming months, beginning in October with the civil fraud case brought by the New York attorney general over the way Trump valued his real estate holdings.