Donald Trump hush money sentencing postponed as judge says president-elect can seek dismissal
22 November 2024, 16:16 | Updated: 22 November 2024, 16:51
A judge has granted Donald Trump permission to seek the dismissal of his hush money criminal case, with sentencing postponed.
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In May, the President-elect was convicted in New York of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Prosecutors have asked for all proceedings to be postponed until after he finishes his four-year presidential term.
He was due to be sentenced on Tuesday.
Trump was found guilty in May of concealing a hush-money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
The former US President had pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts, and denied any sexual encounter with Daniels.
Read more: Donald Trump nominates Pam Bondi for attorney general hours after Matt Gaetz withdraws
Amid a flurry of filings in the case since Mr Trump's election win this month, it had already become clear that the November 26 sentencing date would not hold.
Judge Juan M Merchan's order on Friday formalised that without setting a new one.
He called for more filing from both sides over the next two-and-a-half weeks about how to proceed in light of Mr Trump's impending return to the White House.
Mr Trump's lawyers want the case to be dismissed outright, and immediately. They have said that it otherwise will interfere with his presidential transition and duties.
Prosecutors have indicated that they are open to putting the case on hold, perhaps as long as he is in office, but they do not want it to be scrapped altogether.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution needs to balance the obligations of the presidency with "the sanctity of the jury verdict".
Mr Bragg's office declined to comment on Friday's ruling. Trump spokesperson and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung hailed it as "a decisive win" for Mr Trump.
Mr Trump, a Republican, was convicted in May of falsifying his business' records to disguise the true nature of a chain of payments that provided 130,000 dollars to porn actor Stormy Daniels.
She received it, through Mr Trump's then-lawyer, in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
The payout was meant to keep her quiet about a sexual encounter she says she had with the married Mr Trump a decade earlier.
It was the first ever criminal trial faced by a former or current US president.
Trump has named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be US attorney general just hours after previous nominee Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration.
Ms Bondi is a long-time ally of Mr Trump and was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial when he was accused - but not convicted - of abusing his power as he tried to condition US military assistance to Ukraine on that country investigating then-former vice president Joe Biden.
Ms Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Mr Trump at his hush money criminal trial. She has chaired the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers.
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"For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponised against me and other Republicans - Not anymore," Mr Trump said in a social media post. "Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again."
Mr Trump's son Donald Trump Jr told Fox Business on Sunday that the transition team had back-ups in mind for his controversial nominees should they fail to get confirmed.
The swift selection of Ms Bondi came about six hours after Mr Gaetz withdrew.
Mr Gaetz stepped aside amid continued fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation's chief federal law enforcement officer.
