A New York judge will delay President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing for his hush money conviction as the incoming president fights to have the conviction dropped.
A hearing was slated for Nov. 26, but that has been canceled. Judge Juan Merchan is now giving Trump's team until Dec. 2 to file a motion to seek a drop in charges. Prosecutors have until Dec. 9 to file their response.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicated he was open to holding off the sentencing on the charges if and once Trump’s legal team pursued that course of action. But Bragg's office has opposed dropping the conviction altogether.
Merchan was scheduled to hear arguments earlier this month in the wake of the Supreme Court's July 1 ruling that said presidents are not subject to criminal prosecution for official acts taken in office. While the Supreme Court did not define "official acts," attorneys for Trump say the conviction should be overturned in light of the Supreme Court's ruling.
The hearing was expected to come more than five months after Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
His sentencing remains in question in the wake of Trump's presidential election victory. Sentencing has faced multiple delays, first because of the Supreme Court's ruling on immunity. It faced continued delays as Merchan did not want to hold the hearing right before the presidential election.
In May, a jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his New York criminal hush money trial, making him the first American president to be convicted of a crime. During the six-week trial, prosecutors argued Trump falsified the records to conceal damaging stories, including an alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The New York criminal trial was the first of four criminal battles for Trump. He faces federal charges in Florida for his handling of classified documents. He was also indicted in Washington, D.C., for allegedly engaging in a conspiracy to subvert the 2020 presidential election. In Georgia, Trump also faces charges for allegedly interfering with the election. But all of those cases will likely be dropped as Trump takes office Jan. 20, 2025.
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