A New York judge has delayed indefinitely the sentencing of US President-elect Donald Trump, following his conviction in June on 34 counts of “falsifying business records” related to the 2016 presidential election. Trump's lawyers are expected to file a motion to dismiss the so-called “hush money” case altogether.
While prosecutor Alvin Bragg alleged that Trump’s payments to his lawyer amounted to the crime of defrauding American voters, on Friday, Judge Juan Merchan announced that the November 26 sentencing hearing “is adjourned” indefinitely.
Merchan has also allowed Trump’s defense to file a motion to dismiss the case, due by December 2. Bragg’s office has until December 9 to file their counter-motion, and no reply briefs will be accepted after that, according to court documents posted online.
Trump’s attorneys initially asked for a deadline of December 20 to file and sought a decision on presidential immunity, citing the US Supreme Court ruling from July. Merchan has said he would make that ruling after reviewing both motions.
Bragg’s case revolved around $130,000 that Trump paid to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen, which purportedly went to pay off adult film actress Stormy Daniels so she would keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. This, according to the prosecutors, “influenced” the 2016 presidential election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump was charged for each of the 11 invoices, 12 vouchers and 11 checks made out to Cohen. It was the first time in US history a former president has been criminally charged and convicted.
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” Trump told reporters in June, after the verdict was announced. “The real verdict will be on November 5, by the people. And we will keep fighting, and we’ll fight till the end and we’ll win.”
Trump went on to win 312 electoral college votes, all seven “swing states” and the popular vote, to defeat sitting Vice President Kamala Harris, who ran for the White House on behalf of the Democrats.
Prosecutors have refused to drop the case but asked Merchan to delay any further proceedings until the end of Trump’s second term, in January 2029. Trump’s lawyers have agreed that continuing the case during his presidency would create “unconstitutional impediments” to governance and asked for it to be dismissed.
“This is now the longest performance of Hamlet in history, as Judge Merchan continues to debate whether to be or not to be a sentencing judge in the Trump case,” constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley wrote on X earlier this week, commenting on Merchan’s behavior.