Judge in Trump hush money trial indefinitely postpones sentencing

Donald Trump continues to avoid his sentence for the 34 crimes of which a jury found him guilty last May. Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, decided on Friday to indefinitely postpone the sentence against the president-elect. The initial sentencing date was set for July 11. But this date was pushed back to September following the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity, and then after the U.S. presidential elections until November 26. Now, it has been postponed indefinitely.

Judge Merchan also granted Trump’s defense team’s request to file a new motion to dismiss the case, giving them until December 2 to submit their documents. Prosecutors must respond by December 9. Trump’s legal team had initially asked for an extension until December 20.

Trump was found guilty by a jury of 34 counts of falsifying business records, including checks, invoices, and accounting documents, to cover up a $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election campaign. The goal of the hush money was to prevent the information from becoming public and potentially harming his electoral chances. Falsifying business records is a crime that can carry a maximum penalty of four years in prison, although sentences for such offenses are often served concurrently. In cases like Trump’s — especially given his status as president-elect — it’s unlikely that he would be sent to prison, with probation or fines being more typical penalties.

Moreover, Trump’s election casts doubt on whether he can even be sentenced. “Just as a sitting president is completely immune from any criminal process, so too is president Trump as president-elect,” Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove argued in a filing Wednesday. They also contend that the statute of limitations for prosecuting him would expire once he takes office, making conviction impossible after that point. Both Blanche and Bove have been nominated by Trump for senior positions in the Justice Department.

The jury's verdict made Trump the first former president to be convicted of a crime. When he takes office on January 20, if the conviction stands, he will be the first convicted felon to become president.

Trump’s defense strategy has focused on delaying and postponing the proceedings until after the election. In the other three criminal trials he faces, he has largely succeeded in avoiding trial dates, which he can continue to delay once he assumes the presidency.

In the New York case, the only one in which Trump has gone to trial, he first tried to overturn the conviction using the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity, which grants presidents broad immunity for their official acts. After that ruling, Judge Merchan set deadlines for arguments on immunity and set tentative dates for sentencing and rulings on immunity, which he has since postponed. He has not yet made a decision on whether the immunity doctrine applies to this case.

Now, Trump’s legal team is expanding its argument, citing the Justice Department’s longstanding policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents. They argue that by extension, this practice should apply to a president-elect as well.

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