Donald Trump can seek dismissal of hush money case as sentencing postponed
A Trump spokesman says his election win was "a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the witch hunt cases". Other cases against the president-elect are likely to fall away when he re-enters the White House next year.
Friday 22 November 2024 18:29, UK
A judge has postponed sentencing in Donald Trump's hush money case and granted permission for his lawyers to seek a dismissal.
It comes after the Manhattan district attorney said he wouldn't oppose a motion to delay the sentencing.
In May, a New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.
It was the first time a US president had been convicted of or charged with a criminal offence.
Trump had tried to cover up "hush money" payments to a porn star in the days before the 2016 election.
When Stormy Daniels' claims of a sexual liaison threatened to upend his presidential campaign, Trump directed his lawyer to pay $130,000 (£102,000) to keep her quiet.
The payment buried the story and he later won the presidency.
Trump denied the charges and said the case was politically motivated. He also denied the sexual encounter took place.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan today delayed the sentencing, which had been due to take place on Tuesday.
The office of district attorney Alvin Bragg had asked the judge to postpone all proceedings until Trump finishes his four-year presidency, which starts on 20 January.
Trump's lawyers say the case should be dismissed because it will create "unconstitutional impediments" to his ability to govern.
Responding to Friday's decision, a Trump campaign spokesman said: "The American People have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the witch hunt cases."
The judge set a 2 December deadline for Trump's lawyers to file their motion, while prosecutors have until 9 December to respond.
He did not set a new date for sentencing or indicate when he would rule on any motion to throw out the case.
Trump now far down the road to freedom
The day might well come when Donald Trump is off the hook, legally 鈥� this isn't it, even if it is a step in that direction.
Donald Trump had been due at the New York court building next Tuesday for sentencing 鈥� no longer.
Judge Juan Merchan is giving Donald Trump an indefinite delay and a listening ear.
America doesn't prosecute sitting presidents and Trump's lawyers say the principle should apply in this case.
In a letter to Judge Juan Merchan, they argued: "Just as a sitting president is completely immune from any criminal process, so too is President Trump as president-elect."
Dismissing the case, they said, is necessary to facilitate the orderly transition of power and that it would be "uniquely destabilising to the country otherwise".
Trump's lawyers were already arguing the conviction was invalid because of a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity 鈥� similarly, the judge has delayed his ruling on that question.
These developments aren't definitive in deciding Trump's legal fate but, at this stage in the process, they are what he wants to hear.
It all seems a long way from the days when he faced four criminal prosecutions. Two of those federal cases 鈥� on Jan 6 election subversion and the mishandling of classified documents 鈥� are already on their way out the door.
A state prosecution on election fraud in Georgia is tied up in investigations into the prosecutor.
Donald Trump's legal woes may not yet be wholly behind him, but he is far down the road to freedom - who would bet against him going the distance?
With the power of the presidency comes significant personal gain, far beyond the politics.
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Even before Trump's win in this month's election, experts said a jail term was unlikely and a fine or probation more probable.
But his resounding victory over Kamala Harris in the US election made the prospect of time behind bars or probation even less likely.
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Trump, 78, was also charged last year in three other cases.
One involved him keeping classified documents after he left office, and the other two centre on alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
A Florida judge dismissed the documents case in July, the Georgia election case is in limbo, and the Justice Department is expected to wind down the federal election case as it has a policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.
Trump last week nominated his lawyers in the hush money case, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, for senior roles in the Justice Department.
When he re-enters the White House, Trump will also have the power to shut down the Georgia and New York cases.