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Here is some background, courtesy of my colleague, Victoria Bekiempis, on why the judge in Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal hush-money case has postponed deciding on whether to throw out the president-elect’s conviction on presidential immunity grounds:
Judge Juan Merchan’s office told Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors that he would delay the ruling until 19 November after defense and prosecutors submitted letters asking for a postponement. Merchan’s decision was not made public until Tuesday – the day he was set to issue his ruling on the immunity issue…
Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced on 10 July. Then came the 1 July US supreme court ruling that granted sitting presidents broad immunity for official acts taken during their time in office.
Trump urged Merchan to delay his sentencing in light of this ruling. His legal team pushed to challenge Trump’s conviction, citing the supreme court decision.
Merchan agreed to mull over the legalities and pushed back the proceeding until 18 September “if such is still necessary” given the supreme court decision. Trump’s attorneys in August asked for still more time, saying that they would need it to possibly appeal Merchan’s decision.
Merchan on 6 September delayed Trump’s sentencing yet again until 26 November – after the election – saying the situation was “fraught with complexities”. He said this decision was meant “to avoid any appearance – however unwarranted – that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching presidential election in which the defendant is a candidate”.
Prosecutors on 10 November sent an email to Merchan indicating that Trump’s team had asked them to agree to a stay so there would be time to review “a number of arguments based on the impact on this proceeding from the results of the presidential election; defendant’s forthcoming certification as president-elect on January 6, 2025; and his inauguration on January 20, 2025”…
They asked Merchan for time to “assess recent developments” and to give them until 19 November to advise him what they believe are “appropriate steps going forward”. Prosecutors indicated that they had spoken to Trump’s team about this and that they agreed to this request.
Update expected in Trump hush-money case
Good morning, and welcome to our US politics blog.
Donald Trump, 78, was convicted in May of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 (£102,809) hush money payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump, who denies it.
The president-elect had been scheduled to be sentenced on 26 November, but justice Juan Merchan last week put all proceedings in the case on pause at the request of Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.
The prosecutors had asked for more time to consider next steps in the case, citing the need to balance the “competing interests” between having the criminal case go forward as normal and protecting the office of the president.
They are due to propose their next steps later today.
Trump’s win in the 2024 presidential election has thwarted his other criminal cases, including the federal election interference and classified documents cases.
The state-level election case in Georgia is on pause pending appeal in the wake of news that the Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, had hired a man with whom she had an affair as prosecutor.
You can read more on the legal battles Trump faces in this story.
