Donald Trump’s hush money sentencing frozen indefinitely

Prosecutors argued that concealing the alleged tryst was intended to help him win his first run for the White House

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The judge in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case has ordered that sentencing be delayed indefinitely.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in May after a jury found he had fraudulently manipulated business records to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.
Prosecutors argued that concealing the alleged tryst was intended to help him win his first run for the White House.
Trump, who had been scheduled to be sentenced on Nov 26, had fought against any effort to sentence him before his return to the presidency in January.
“It is… ordered that the joint application for a stay of sentencing is granted to the extent that the Nov 26, 2024 date is adjourned,” said judge Juan Merchan in an order.
It comes after it was suggested that Mr Trump’s case could be effectively frozen until after his presidency.
In a court filing on Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said they would not approve of dismissing the case, after Mr Trump’s team argued it should be dropped in light of his re-election.
However, “given the need to balance competing constitutional interests,” prosecutors said “consideration must be given” to potentially freezing the case until the president-elect has completed his second term.
Mr Trump was convicted in May of falsifying business records to cover up a scheme to influence the 2016 election by paying porn actress Stormy Daniels to stay silent on claims that she had slept with him.
The president-elect, who was married at the time of the alleged encounter, says they did not have sex and denies any wrongdoing.
His sentencing had been set for Nov 26, but was postponed.
Following Mr Trump’s election win, his lawyers urged Judge Juan M Merchan to throw out the case.
His lawyers said that it must be scrapped “to facilitate the orderly transition of executive power — and in the interests of justice.”
Manhattan prosecutors said on Tuesday they “are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency” and realise that Trump’s return to the White House “will raise unprecedented legal questions”.
“We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system,” they added.
No decision has yet been made, and Judge Merchan has not said when he will rule.
However, incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung said the filing was “a total and definitive victory for President Trump” in a case that he has long deplored as a “witch hunt”.
“President Trump’s legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all,” Mr Cheung said in a statement.
Mr Trump has pledged to appeal the verdict if the case is not dismissed.
He has decried the hush money verdict as a “rigged, disgraceful” result.
He has claimed, without evidence, that the case brought by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was part of a Democrat-led “witch hunt” meant to harm his presidential campaign.
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