Trump hush money trial judge delays major decision by a month until sentencing

The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money case delayed his decision on whether to drop the charges less than a month before sentencing.

Judge Juan Merchan reversed his immunity ruling in the case in which the president-elect was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to silence Stormy Daniels.

The judge granted a request from Trump’s defense team and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to delay the trial deadline by a week, until Nov. 19.

Merchan was expected to rule on the Trump team’s argument that the former president’s conduct qualifies for immunity protection following the Supreme Court decision.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote a letter to the judge on Sunday, asking for a delay and noting the “impact of the Presidential election results on this process.”

‘The public agrees that these are unprecedented circumstances,’ he wrote, ‘and the jury’s verdict of guilt after trial with a presumption of regularity; and the Office of the President.’

The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money case postponed his decision on whether to drop the charges less than a month before his sentencing

Trump’s lawyer, Emil Bove, called for the case to be postponed and dismissed in order to ‘prevent unconstitutional obstruction of President Trump’s ability to govern.’

In May, a jury in Manhattan found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

He faces up to four years in prison, although many experts say the first-time offender is unlikely to face prison time even before his surprising election victory.

Sentencing in the case is still set for November 26, but it will be moot if Merchan dismisses the case sooner.

As for immunity, Merchan must decide whether evidence shown to jurors during the trial should be kept away from jurors. (The 6-3 conservative majority decision came in July after the hearing).

Jurors were also presented with evidence of his Tweets as president.

Trump’s team has already used the decision, which sets out broad areas of ‘official’ conduct that are protected from prosecution while a president is in office, to argue that the case should be dismissed.

Evidence at trial included White House conversations between Trump and former mechanic Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness. Cohen was seeking refunds for ‘hush’ payments paid to porn star Stormy Daniels. Cohen paid the porn star $130,000 weeks before the 2016 election and received a refund.