Manhattan prosecutors say that they would oppose a dismissal of President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case but would be open to delaying sentencing until after he leaves office.
Sentencing had been scheduled for Nov. 26. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was facing a Tuesday deadline to tell New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan how he wanted to proceed following Trump’s election win and ahead of his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Merchan must now decide whether to go ahead with sentencing before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, delay it until he leaves office, order a new trial or dismiss the case altogether.
In , Bragg’s office said that Trump’s forthcoming presidency isn’t grounds for dismissal. But prosecutors also acknowledged that they are in unchartered legal territory and raised the possibility of deferring sentencing until after Trump completes his second four-year term.
“The People deeply respect the Office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency, and acknowledge that Defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions,” the letter said. “We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system.
“Given the need to balance competing constitutional interests,” it added, “consideration must be given to various non-dismissal options that may address any concerns raised by the pendency of a post-trial criminal proceeding during the presidency, such as deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of Defendant’s upcoming presidential term.”
In May, Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a felony when a New York City jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump’s lawyers had argued that the conviction should be nullified given the Supreme Court’s July ruling that presidents are immune from prosecution for “official acts” carried out while in office.
Because Manhattan prosecutors used evidence obtained from the Trump White House to make their case, Trump’s lawyers told the judge, the verdict should not be allowed to stand. Merchan was scheduled to issue his ruling on the Supreme Court immunity question on Tuesday.
Trump’s lawyers have also argued that the conviction should be tossed “to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern.”
Trump is facing a maximum penalty of up to four years in prison in the hush money case.
But even if Merchan allows Trump’s conviction to stand, it that he will not, as a first-time offender and a newly reelected president, be sentenced to jail time.
The hush money case was one of four criminal cases Trump has been facing, and the only one to go to trial. His election victory has put .
Special counsel Jack Smith is expected to drop both federal cases he brought against Trump because of a longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibiting the prosecution of sitting presidents. Trump had been indicted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election — including his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — and for retaining classified documents after leaving office.
Trump’s criminal election interference case in Georgia had already been mired in delays. And following the election the president-elect’s lawyers signaled that his victory means that they will ask the court to delay the case from going to trial until after he leaves office — and that they will again challenge it on the grounds that presidential immunity protects him from prosecution.
As Merchan weighs the next steps, Team Trump is already declaring victory.
“This is a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement to the Associated Press. “The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue. The lawless case is now stayed, and President Trump’s legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all.”
