The Manhattan district attorney’s office announced on Tuesday that it would agree to delay Donald Trump’s sentencing in the hush money case, allowing time for prosecutors to address Trump’s expected motion to dismiss the case.
In a letter to Judge Juan Merchan, the district attorney’s office also acknowledged that Trump is unlikely to be sentenced before the end of his upcoming presidential term but maintained that his felony conviction should stand.
A source close to the district attorney’s office stated that a four-year pause could be considered.
This move marks a dramatic shift in Trump’s legal and political situation.
Just a year ago, Trump faced four separate indictments, but now, as he campaigns to return to the White House, his legal team’s strategy to push his cases past the 2024 election has been largely successful, with two federal cases nearing resolution, the Georgia case stagnant, and the New York case facing indefinite delays.
Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to his former lawyer Michael Cohen to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Trump denies the affair.
In the letter, the Manhattan district attorney argued that there is no legal basis to dismiss Trump’s conviction. It emphasized that no law suggests a president’s temporary immunity should prevent a post-trial criminal proceeding that began when he was not immune and concerns conduct for which he is not immune.
Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, called the filing a “total and definitive victory for President Trump.”
Merchan had been expected to rule last week on whether the conviction should be overturned due to the US Supreme Court’s decision granting Trump broad immunity for official acts during his presidency, but the district attorney’s office conceded the “unprecedented circumstances” of Trump’s election, postponing the ruling.
Trump’s lawyers argue that the conviction should be vacated due to the immunity ruling and his impending return to the White House.
Trump attorney Emil Bove wrote that staying and dismissing the case is essential to avoid unconstitutional barriers to Trump’s ability to govern. Bove has also been selected for a high-ranking position in Trump’s potential new administration.
Legal analyst Elie Honig stated that the delay of Trump’s sentencing was an expected consequence of his election, noting that the president enjoys immunity from prosecution due to the Supreme Court ruling and Department of Justice policy.
Trump was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg last spring, the first of four indictments in 2023, but it was the only case to go to trial. The federal election subversion case was delayed by the immunity ruling, the classified documents case was dismissed, and the Georgia case has stalled.
A Manhattan jury convicted Trump on all 34 felony counts after a two-month trial. His sentencing, originally set for July, was postponed twice after Trump’s lawyers filed a motion to vacate the conviction following the immunity ruling.
