The judge in Donald Trump's criminal hush money case indefinitely delayed his sentencing on Friday, in what the president-elect's team called a “decisive victory” as he prepares to return to the White House.
Trump, who was scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26, fought to block that proceeding before Joe Biden succeeded him in January.
“The joint application for a stay of sentencing is granted to the extent that the date of November 26, 2024 is postponed,” Judge Juan Merchan said in an order in New York.
Trump's legal team cited as justification for its request a landmark July Supreme Court decision that gives presidents broad immunity for official acts committed while in office.
“In a decisive victory for President Trump, the fraudulent Manhattan case has now been fully stayed and sentencing has been postponed,” Trump communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“President Trump won a landslide victory because the American people have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all vestiges of the witch hunt cases.”
Trump was convicted in May on 34 felony counts after a jury found he falsified business records to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with a porn star before the 2016 election.
Prosecutors argued that the purpose of concealing the alleged meeting was to help him win his first election to the White House.
Read also:Judge to pronounce verdict on Trump's conviction in secret money case
'motion to dismiss'
Before the election in November, Trump's lawyers sought to dismiss the case in light of the Supreme Court's decision, a move that prosecutors strongly rejected.
On Friday, Marchen granted leave to have Trump's conviction thrown out, meaning more hearings could be delayed after Trump is sworn in.
New York state prosecutors had previously acknowledged the “unprecedented circumstances” in correspondence with the court and called for balancing the competing interests of the jury's decision and Trump's election.
The Republican president-elect has repeatedly derided the secret money scandal as witchcraft.
Along with the hush money case, Trump faces two active federal cases: one related to his effort to overturn the 2020 election and the other related to classified documents he allegedly misappropriated after leaving office. Had taken over from.
In the election interference case, special counsel Jack Smith has moved to circumvent the deadline, delaying it indefinitely – but not yet removing it entirely, which bars sitting US presidents from being prosecuted. This is consistent with long-standing Justice Department policy.
A Trump-appointed federal judge had already dismissed the document case, but Smith sought to appeal that decision.
As president, Trump would be able to intervene to end those cases.
AFP
(tagstotranslate)biden
Source link
