The judge in Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal hush-money case has postponed deciding on whether to throw out the US president-elect’s conviction on presidential immunity grounds.
Judge Juan Merchan told Mr Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday that he would delay the ruling until November 19th after defence and prosecutors submitted a joint letter asking for a postponement.
The postponement followed numerous successful attempts to delay Mr Trump’s case. Earlier this year, he was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a scheme to influence the 2016 election.
The verdict came on May 31st – following fewer than 12 hours of jury deliberations in the unprecedented first criminal trial of a US president, former or sitting. The outcome marked a potentially stunning blow to Mr Trump, then the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
The campaign for Joe Biden, who ultimately withdrew his re-election bid, said “no one is above the law” in an email blast shortly after the verdict.
“In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law. Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain,” Michael Tyler, Mr Biden’s communications director, said.
Mr Trump’s criminal case portrayed a man who did not seem befitting of the presidency. Prosecutors said that Mr Trump falsely recorded reimbursements he made to his then lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 pay-off to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, to silence her about an alleged affair with Mr Trump, as “legal expenses”.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said that these falsifications were made to hide Mr Trump’s violation of New York state election law, which criminalises promoting the election of any person to office through illegal means.
Prosecutors said those unlawful means were the $130,000 payout to Ms Daniels. The payout was, in essence, an illicit campaign contribution, as it was carried out for the benefit of Trump’s 2016 bid – exceeding the $2,700 individual contribution cap.
But Mr Trump, whose poll numbers remained steady throughout the trial, did not lose support. He ultimately became the Republican nominee and, on November 5th, bested Kamala Harris.
Mr Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 10th. Then came the July 1st US supreme court ruling that granted sitting presidents broad immunity for official acts taken during their time in office.
Mr Trump urged Mr Merchan to delay his sentencing in light of this ruling. His legal team pushed to challenge Mr Trump’s conviction, citing the supreme court decision.
Mr Merchan agreed to mull over the legalities and pushed back the proceeding until September 18th “if such is still necessary” given the supreme court decision. Mr Trump’s attorneys in August asked for still more time, saying that they would need it to possibly appeal Mr Merchan’s decision.
Mr Merchan on September 6th delayed Mr Trump’s sentencing yet again until November 26th – 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”.
Mr Trump’s lawyers argued over the weekend that there are “strong reasons for the requested stay, and eventually dismissal of the case in the interests of justice”, according to the aforementioned letter.
Mr Trump’s election victory has derailed his other criminal cases. The special prosecutor Jack Smith is winding down the federal election interference and classified documents cases against Trump.
The state-level election case in Fulton county, Georgia, is on hold pending appeal, following revelations that the district attorney, Fani Willis, had hired as a prosecutor a man with whom she had an affair. Even if the proceeding survived appeal, proceedings are all but guaranteed to languish until 2029. – Guardian