Donald Trump’s hush money sentencing ‘called off’ as judge weighs dismissing case after president-elect’s immunity claim
THE sentencing date of President-elect Donald Trump's hush money conviction has been suspended, according to reports.
The stunning move comes as Judge Juan Merchan is expected to rule whether to uphold or dismiss Trump's conviction of 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records.
The president-elect's sentencing, which was scheduled to take place on November 26, was suddenly called off without explanation on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is facing a Tuesday deadline to file paperwork outlining what he believes should follow in Trump's case following his presidential election victory.
Judge Merchan is expected to rule whether to proceed to the sentencing stage, delay the sentencing until Trump is out of the White House, or outright toss the conviction, Bloomberg reported.
Trump, who crushed Vice President Kamala Harris on Election Day to scale to a second White House term, has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, calling his conviction "rigged and a disgrace."
Read more in The U.S. Sun
Judge Merchan's impending decision stems from the Supreme Court's controversial immunity ruling in July, which ruled former presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts or things they do as part of their job as president.
The higher court's ruling prohibits prosecutors from using evidence of official acts in trying to prove that purely personal conduct violated the law.
A jury in Manhattan convicted Trump on May 30 of 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records to boost his chances of winning the 2016 presidential election.
Although, at the time, Trump was a private citizen when he made a $130,000 payment to silence pornstar Stormy Daniels about their alleged affair, his defense argues that evidence presented by prosecutors during the trial goes against the Supreme Court's ruling.
The defense attorneys argued that the testimony of former White House communications director Hope Hicks and her conversation with then-President Trump about his hush money payments impaired the jury's understanding of the case.
Hicks would routinely be in meetings with Trump, his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen, and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.
She testified how Trump's orbit at the time was focused on the 2016 election.
Hicks told jurors that Trump claimed he did not know anything about Cohen paying $130,000 to Daniels to prevent her from going public with the affair allegations.
But, Hicks said Trump eventually said he preferred the story come out after the election, suggesting he was aware the allegations by Daniels could impact his chances at winning the 2016 presidential election.
The defense also raised the issue of prosecutors using Trump's social media posts about Cohen while he was president in the trial.
However, prosecutors disputed the defense's claims, saying their case centers on "entirely personal conduct" and not on actions he made during his time as president.
"The evidence that he claims is affected by the Supreme Court's ruling constitutes only a sliver of the mountains of testimony and documentary proof that the jury considered in finding him guilty of all 34 felony charges beyond a reasonable doubt," prosecutors said.
Moments after his May 30 conviction, Trump fiercely proclaimed that the "real verdict" would be on November 5 by "the people."
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Donald Trump's Cabinet Picks
In the days following his dominant Election Day victory, President-elect Donald Trump has begun carving out his future administation.
Here's a list of Trump's confirmed cabinet picks:
- Susie Wiles - White House Chief of Staff
- Stephen Miller - Deputy Chief of Staff
- Bill McGinley - White House counsel
- Tom Homan, ex-ICE acting director - "Border Czar"
- Elise Stefanik, Republican New York representative - Ambassador to the United Nations
- Lee Zeldin, former New York representative - Environmental Protection Agency administrator
- Marco Rubio, Republican Florida senator - Secretary of State
- Kristi Noem, Republican South Dakota governor - Homeland Security Secretary
- Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor - Ambassador to Israel
- John Ratcliffe, former Texas representative - CIA director
- Pete Hegseth, US Army veteran - Secretary of Defense
- Mike Waltz, Republican Florida representative - National Security Advisor
- Steven Witkoff, real estate investor - Middle East envoy
- Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy - Department of Government Efficiency
- Tim Scott, Republican South Carolina senator - Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
- Tulsi Gabbard, former Hawaii representative - Director of National Intelligence
- Matt Gaetz, Republican Florida representative - Attorney General
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Jay Clayton , US Attorney for the Southern District of New York
- Doug Burgum, Republican North Dakota governor - Department of Interior
- Todd Blanche, lawyer - Deputy Attorney General
- Karoline Leavitt - White House Press Secretary
- Chris Wright, oil industry executive - Energy Secretary
- Doug Collins, served in Iraq 2008, former congressman of Georgia's 9th district from 2013-2021 - Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs
- William McGinley, partner at law firm Holtzman Vogel, former White House Cabinet secretary for Trump - White House Counsel
- Steven Cheung, rapid response director for Trump 2016 campaign - White House Communications Director
- William Owen Scharf , federal prosecutor - Assistant to the President and White House Staff Secretary
- Dean John Sauer, appellate attorney and former Solicitor General of Missouri, lead counsel in Supreme Court for Trump v United States - Solicitor General of the US
- Commissioner Brendan Carr, Former senior Republican on FCC and ex-FFC General Counsel - Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
More to follow... For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.
Like us on Facebook at TheSunUS and follow us on X at @TheUSSun