Former US President Donald Trump attends the second day of his trial for allegedly covering up payments related to extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 16, 2024.
Mary Altaffer AFP Getty Images
A New York judge on Friday suspended the sentencing of President-elect Donald Trump in a criminal hush money case.
Judge Juan Merchan in a court order also allowed Trump’s lawyers to file a motion to dismiss the case, in which Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The verdict cancels, for now, the sentencing set for next Tuesday.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office told Merchan this week that they supported pausing the sentencing date to give Trump’s lawyers time to argue that the case should be thrown out entirely.
But the DA’s office also said it would oppose the dismissal offer.
Trump’s lawyers — including Todd Blanche, who Trump recently named his No. 1 official
“Just as a sitting President is completely immune from criminal proceedings, so is President Trump as the President-elect,” wrote Blanche and attorney Emil Bove in a letter to Merchan.
Blanche referred CNBC to Trump’s transition team, which celebrated the court order.
“In a decisive victory for President Trump, the Manhattan hoax case is now closed and sentencing is pending,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“All bogus legal attacks against President Trump are now destroyed,” Cheung said.
The hush money case centered on an attempt by then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to keep porn star Stormy Daniels from talking before the 2016 election about allegations of sexual relations with Trump years earlier. Cohen said Trump, after becoming president, repaid the $130,000 in payments.
Trump has denied having a sexual relationship with Daniels, and has accused prosecutors of political motives in pursuing the case.
A jury convicted Trump on all charges in May, and Trump was initially sentenced in mid-July. But the move has been repeatedly delayed due to Supreme Court rulings that former presidents enjoy immunity for all official acts performed in office.
The case in Manhattan Supreme Court is the only one of four separate criminal cases against Trump to go to trial before he won the November 5 presidential election against Vice President Kamala Harris.
As a result of Trump’s victory, another criminal case will be closed.
Two cases against Trump in federal court are expected to be dropped by the prosecutor, special counsel Jack Smith, before Trump takes office on January 20.
The case in Washington, DC, and Florida is based on allegations that Trump illegally tried to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, and that he did not wrongly handle secret recordings after he left the White House.
As president, Trump could fire Smith, and he has said he will. Smith and his team reportedly plan to withdraw before Trump gets the chance.
Another state-level criminal case against Trump in Georgia is also on hold, and could remain for years.
