Judge indefinitely postpones sentencing in Trump's hush money case

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Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump pauses before speaking during a campaign rally on Sept. 25, in Mint Hill, N.C. / Getty Images

A New York judge agreed to indefinitely postpone sentencing in a criminal case against President-elect Donald Trump. The judge, Juan Merchan, said he is adjourning a planned Nov. 26 sentencing and paved the way forward for Trump's lawyers to file a motion to dismiss.

The decision marks another win for the president-elect, who is set to return to the White House in January just as his other criminal trials have also been stalled.

And it follows several filings by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted Trump, and Trump's lawyers, who have both signaled interest in further staying the sentencing while they make arguments over whether the case should be dismissed altogether or if the president-elect should still be prosecuted.

Lawyers will litigate dismissing the case

Following his conviction, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a separate case that presidents have immunity for official acts they take in office.

Trump's legal team then argued that various witness testimonies in the hush-money case – such as that of former White House employees – and evidence – like statements made while he was president – violate the ruling because they're official acts and thus excluded from prosecution.

Bragg has argued that the jury's deliberations, which came before the July Supreme Court ruling, should also be given weight. Still, prosecutors noted they "deeply respect the Office of the President" and that Trump's inauguration in January raises unprecedented legal questions. They suggested sentencing could be delayed until after Trump finishes his presidential term after 2028.

The decision to pause the proceedings comes after the U.S. Department of Justice signaled it would take steps to wind down two federal prosecutions against Trump that are focused on his alleged efforts to cling to power after the 2020 election and accusations he kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort. The DOJ has a longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president. And proceedings in the Georgia criminal trial accusing Trump of conspiring to corrupt the 2020 election results in the states are also on indefinite hold.

In Merchan's Friday order, he also set the schedule for Trump's legal team to file a motion to dismiss. His lawyers will need to file their request to throw out the case by Dec. 2 and prosecutors will have until Dec. 9 to respond.

In May, Trump became the first former or sitting U.S. president to be convicted on criminal charges. The jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsified business records.

Friday's filing is one of a string of post-verdict legal wins in the case for Trump: Merchan postponed sentencing twice — the second time until after Election Day to avoid appearing politically motivated.

Trump's team welcomed Friday's news. "In a decisive win for President Trump, the hoax Manhattan Case is now fully stayed and sentencing is adjourned," said Steven Cheung, Trump communications director, doubling down on Trump's belief without evidence that the trials are politically motivated against him. "All of the sham lawfare attacks against President Trump are now destroyed and we are focused on Making America Great Again."

Campaigning tool throughout the 2024 election

After about a day and a half of deliberations, 12 New York jurors said they unanimously agreed that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels to influence the 2016 presidential contest.

Trump has used the conviction as a fundraising and campaigning tool. Within 24 hours of the guilty verdict, Trump's campaign boasted of raising millions of dollars. As the GOP's presidential nominee, he regularly discussed the trial at campaign events. He also discussed other New York trials, including his company's civil fraud trial where he was ordered to pay over $450 million; and a civil defamation trial where he was ordered to pay $83 million to writer E. Jean Carroll.

The jury in the hush money case heard from 22 witnesses during about four weeks of testimony in Manhattan's criminal court. Jurors also weighed other evidence — mostly documents like phone records, invoices and checks to Michael Cohen, Trump's once-loyal "fixer," who testified that he paid Daniels to keep her story of an alleged affair with the former president quiet.

The facts of the payments and invoices labeled as legal services were not in dispute. What prosecutors needed to prove was that Trump falsified the records in order to further another crime — in this case, violating the New York election law that makes it a crime for "any two or more persons [to] conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means."

The verdict came more than a year after a grand jury indicted Trump on March 30, 2023, marking the first time a former or sitting president faced criminal charges.