Judge delays decision on whether to overturn Trump’s conviction in hush money case

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Tuesday postponed a decision on whether to overturn President-elect Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money case, as his lawyers argued his election last week warranted complete dismissal of the affair so that he can lead the country.

New York Judge Juan M. Merchan was scheduled to rule Tuesday on their earlier request to overturn his conviction for a different reason — because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this summer on presidential immunity. Instead, he told Trump’s lawyers that he would delay the decision until November 19 so prosecutors could give their opinions on what to do in light of Trump’s imminent return to the White House .

According to emails filed in court Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors had agreed in recent days to a one-week delay.

Because of the “unprecedented circumstances,” prosecutors must consider how to balance the “competing interests” of the jury’s verdict and the presidency, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote.

Trump’s lawyer, Emil Bove, meanwhile, argued that dismissing the case was “necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern.”

Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors had no immediate comment Tuesday.

A jury convicted Trump in May of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in 2016. The payment was intended to buy her silence over allegations that she had sex with Trump .

He says no, denies any wrongdoing and maintains the lawsuits were a political tactic intended to damage his latest campaign.

A little more than a month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents cannot be prosecuted for actions they committed while leading the country, and that prosecutors cannot cite these actions, even to support a case centered on purely personal reasons. to drive.

Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue that the hush money jury got evidence it shouldn’t have, like Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form and testimony from some House aides White.

Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a fragment” of their case.

Trump’s criminal conviction was a first for a former president. The 78-year-old faces penalties ranging from a fine or probation to four years in prison.

The case centered on how Trump reimbursed his personal lawyer for paying Daniels.

The lawyer, Michael Cohen, financed the case. He then recouped it through a series of payments that Trump’s company counted as legal fees. Trump, then in the White House, signed most of the checks himself.

Prosecutors said the designation was intended to conceal the true purpose of the payments and cover up a broader effort to prevent voters from hearing unflattering claims about the Republican during his first campaign.

Trump said Cohen was legitimately paid for legal services and that Daniels’ story was suppressed to avoid embarrassing Trump’s family and not to influence the electorate.

Trump was a private citizen — campaigning for president, but not elected or sworn in — when Cohen paid Daniels in October 2016. He was president when Cohen was reimbursed, and Cohen testified that they discussed repayment terms in the Oval Office.

Trump has been fighting for months to overturn the verdict and may now seek to leverage his status as president-elect. Although he was tried as a private citizen, his upcoming return to the White House could prompt a court to intervene and avoid the unprecedented spectacle of the conviction of a former and future president.

While urging Merchan to overturn the conviction, Trump also attempted to take the case to federal court. Before the election, a federal judge repeatedly said no to the ruling, but Trump appealed.

Trump faces three other unrelated indictments in various jurisdictions.

But Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith assessed how to end both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case against Trump before he took office, said a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Longstanding Justice Department policy states that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, a Georgia election interference case against Trump is largely on hold while Trump and other defendants appeal a judge’s decision allowing the case’s lead prosecutor, Fani Willis, to proceed prosecutions.

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.