The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush money trial called off the president-elect’s Nov. 26 sentencing date on Tuesday ahead of an expected memo from prosecutors recommending how to proceed.
Trump was convicted on all 34 felony counts in May by a jury of 12 New Yorkers, but his sentencing has been pushed back multiple times amid new developments in the unprecedented criminal case. The Supreme Court was first to throw a wrench into the sentencing proceedings when it ruled in July that presidents enjoy vast powers of immunity from criminal prosecution.
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Now New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan will have to decide whether to delay the sentencing further or throw out the case entirely, given that Trump will be retaking the White House in January.
The timeline on when that will happen is now unclear.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was expected to file a brief with the court Tuesday advising Merchan, however, deadlines in the case have often been pushed back. Merchan decided last week to delay his own decision on how to proceed with the case in light of Trump’s win.
The two federal criminal cases against Trump, brought by special counsel Jack Smith, are winding down without trial ahead of Smith’s expected resignation.
The New York criminal case against Trump centered on a $130,000 hush money payment made to the porn actor Stormy Daniels in the days before the 2016 presidential election in order to stop her from coming forward with an allegation about an alleged affair.
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Trump’s personal attorney at the time, Michael Cohen, arranged the payment on behalf of his boss, who then reimbursed him over the course of a year for what was described on business records as legal services.
Prosecutors successfully argued that those business records had been falsified to conceal the true nature of the reimbursement.
Trump has long denied that he had an affair with Daniels, and that he did anything wrong, choosing instead to paint the prosecution as a political witch hunt.