A New York judge has postponed the sentencing of President-elect Donald Trump in his criminal case involving hush money payments, which was initially set for next week. This delay comes as Trump’s legal team pushes to have the case dismissed following his victory in the 2024 presidential election.
Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Trump’s trial, announced the adjournment on Friday, allowing for further written arguments on Trump’s request to have the 34-count felony conviction overturned. Trump’s attorneys argue that his return to the White House requires the case to be dropped entirely.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, however, opposes the motion to dismiss and has proposed that Merchan might choose to freeze the case during Trump’s presidency. This would mean the conviction would remain in place, but sentencing would be delayed until at least 2029.
Merchan has given Trump’s legal team until December 2 to file their formal motion to dismiss the case, with Bragg’s office required to respond by December 9. The judge will then decide how to move forward.
Though both sides agreed to the delay, the new timeline largely aligns with Bragg’s position, while Trump’s team had requested a longer postponement, pushing the dismissal discussion closer to his inauguration. The former president’s legal strategy has been centered on delaying proceedings until after the election, and in the hush money case, Trump was successful in pushing back his sentencing until after voters went to the polls.
In May, a jury convicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to an adult film actress in the lead-up to the 2016 election. He is the first former president to be convicted of a felony. If the conviction stands and he returns to office, Trump would become the first president to assume the presidency with a criminal record.
Now that he has secured another term, Trump’s legal team is seeking to have the case dismissed. Attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who were recently nominated by Trump for senior positions at the Justice Department, argued in a letter last week that the case should be dropped to allow for a smooth transition of executive power after his electoral victory.
The sentencing delay follows ongoing uncertainty in the case, with the judge also set to rule on whether the conviction stands in light of the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity. Merchan had already postponed both the sentencing and his ruling on the immunity issue until after the election, and the case will remain on hold as Trump’s team presses for a dismissal.
Trump’s return to the White House has also impacted his other criminal cases. Courts have agreed to pause special counsel Jack Smith’s federal election subversion case and a related appeal involving the documents case, as prosecutors assess how to proceed. In Georgia, where Trump faces charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, an appeals court has also delayed a scheduled argument in his defense.
As the legal battles continue, the timing of Trump’s sentencing remains uncertain, and much hinges on how the courts address his request for dismissal following his presidential win.
