2 hour(s) agoPINNED New York AG Letitia James says Trump request for stay is meant to 'sow chaos'

New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Donald Trump's legal team of attempting to "sow chaos" by pausing the ongoing civil fraud trial.

In a court filing responding to Trump's request for a stay of the trial, James said that granting Trump's request would lead to a "cascade of delays" that would interrupt the other pending litigation involving the former president.

"A stay is a drastic remedy in all cases, but defendants cannot come close to demonstrating that the equities or the merits favor the truly extraordinary relief of upending an ongoing trial midstream," James wrote in a letter to the court. 

The state's top prosecutor argued Trump's request for a stay pending his appeal of Judge Athur Engoron's summary judgement, which found Trump liable of fraud, would upset months of planning for witness testimony and special arrangements to provide the public access to the high-profile trial. 

"And tellingly, they waited until after Mr. Trump decided to stop attending the trial," the letter said. "Defendants have thus sought to interrupt trial midcourse in a highly disruptive manner, and this Court should deny an interim stay on that basis alone."

James also accused Trump's team of attempting to "play one court against the other" by invoking the busy schedule of Trump's other pending cases in the request for a stay. 

In addition to James' civil fraud case, Trump is due in court for criminal trials the New York hush money case, the Georgia election interference case, Special Counsel Jack Smith's federal election interference case in Washington, D.C. and his classified documents case.