The remarks by the lawyer, Steven Sadow, came as the judge overseeing the case wrestled with how to set a trial date given Trump’s other legal entanglements and the looming campaign next year. Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2024 election.

Sadow said that if Trump wins the election, he would seek to postpone the trial until after he left office, arguing that it would interfere with his responsibilities as president.

Trump, who faces four simultaneous state and federal criminal prosecutions, has repeatedly sought to delay the cases against him until after the Nov. 5, 2024, election. Sadow’s remarks show how Trump could use his campaign and a possible second four-year term in office to delay those cases, even in state courts where he would be unable to pardon himself and would not have control over the prosecutions.