A Manhattan judge on Tuesday delayed a highly-anticipated decision in Donald Trump’s hush-money case following his election victory at the request of the president-elect’s lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney.
State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan granted a joint motion to delay the decision and other deadlines in the case until Nov. 19.
Trump has asked Merchan to toss the verdicts and the underlying indictment or grant him a new trial by arguing that the July immunity decision by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority — which granted presidents sweeping protections from criminal prosecution — barred the Manhattan district attorney’s office from showing evidence at trial relating to his “official acts.”
Among the “official acts” Trump argues were out-of-bounds were tweets from his presidential Twitter account about his former fixer Michael Cohen and testimony concerning private conversations with former White House staffers, including his communications director, Hope Hicks.
Prosecutors have opposed the effort, underscoring that the crimes Trump was found guilty of committing were related to his personal life and not his presidency. They argued that even if the Supreme Court decision — which came down after Trump was found guilty — meant they improperly showed some evidence to the jury, the evidence of his guilt was, regardless, “overwhelming.”
An anonymous Manhattan jury delivered the guilty verdicts on May 30, finding Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records tied to his secret payback to Cohen for silencing Stormy Daniels in the leadup to the 2016 election. Prosecutors argued at trial that the hundreds of thousands of dollars Trump issued to Cohen in 2017 in Sharpie-signed checks were falsely logged as payment for “legal services” to cover up an illicit scheme to hide information from voters.
The historic case was the first of four brought against Trump after his first term in office and likely the only one to see a jury’s conclusion on the front end of his second term.
Justice Department prosecutors are reportedly winding down two federal cases against Trump related to his alleged efforts to overturn President Biden’s 2020 win and hoarding of classified documents after leaving office.
The racketeering case against Trump, in which he’s accused of election subversion efforts alongside Rudy Giuliani and more than a dozen others, has stalled significantly, and legal experts say it’s unlikely he will go on trial before a Georgia jury in the next four years.
Trump is still trying to get his hush-money proceedings transferred to federal court — where he could more easily target an appeal toward the Supreme Court — having been denied two previous efforts. This summer, he appealed the latest rejection with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which is yet to hear oral arguments.
Trump’s attorneys and the Manhattan DA’s office did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
