OAN Staff James Meyers
8:40 AM – Tuesday, November 12, 2024
The judge overseeing President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money trial is postponing a decision on whether to undo his conviction, due to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
New York Judge Juan M. Merchan had been set to give his ruling on Tuesday, but instead he told Trump’s lawyers Tuesday he would delay the ruling until November 19th.
Now, Trump’s sentencing, which would be the first of any former president, is scheduled for November 26th. He was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to conceal an affair, which he denies.
Additionally, Trump’s attorneys believe his election as president compels the dismissal of his criminal prosecutions.
“The stay, and dismissal, are necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern,” Trump attorney Emil Bove wrote in an email to the judge.
Meanwhile, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D-N.Y.) office agreed to delay the proceedings as they assess how to respond to Trump’s demand.
“The People agree that these are unprecedented circumstances and that the arguments raised by defense counsel in correspondence to the People on Friday require careful consideration,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote to the judge.
Trump’s attorneys said prosecutors with the district attorney’s office showed jurors evidence during his seven-week trial that was protected by the justices’ ruling, which the state rejected.
As for the other charges against the 47th president they have been put on pause.
Trump’s classified documents case was dismissed by a different federal judge, and his Georgia criminal case is paused indefinitely while an appeals court weighs a challenge from Trump and his co-defendants.
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