Donald Trump’s sentencing following his conviction for paying off porn star Stormy Daniels in an illegal hush money deal has been called off.
The president-elect was convicted on all 34 felony counts in May by a jury, but his punishment has been pushed back multiple times. Following his election victory, on Tuesday, Trump’s November 26 sentencing has been cancelled, and no new date has been set.
Before regaining the White House, he had argued that his conviction should be thrown out based on the Supreme Court's July 1 presidential immunity decision, which gave US leaders broad protections against prosecution. Five days after the election, Trump'ss lawyer Emil Bove emailed trial Judge Juan Merchan to argue that the case should also be dismissed based on the election to "avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump's ability to govern."
Lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case against Trump, refused to dismiss the case.
Instead, in a letter to Judge Merchan, they said the president-elect should be sentenced after he completes his second term in office.
It would be 2029, more than a decade after the investigation began, before Trump was punished.
"Given the need to balance competing constitutional interests, 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," their filing said.
But "given the need to balance competing constitutional interests," prosecutors said, consideration must be given "to potentially freezing the case until after he's out of office." The judge halted proceedings last week after Trump’s lawyers urged him to dismiss the case “to avoid unconstitutional impediments” to the incoming president’s ability to run the country.
Merchan has not said when he will decide. Trump is due to be sworn in January 20. In pausing proceedings, the judge delayed a ruling on Trump’s earlier bid to reverse his conviction because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in July that gave presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution. Merchan could also decide to delay the case for some other length of time, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court or choose some other option.
A dismissal would erase Trump’s historic conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record as well as a possible prison sentence. The president-elect was found guilty of falsifying business records in order to cover up a hush money payment to buy Daniels' silence ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The porn star alleged the pair had a sexual encounter, a claim Trump denies.