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Amid a flurry of filings in the case since Trump's election win
this month, it had already become clear that the Nov. 26
sentencing date wouldn't hold. Judge Juan M. Merchan's order
Friday formalized that without setting a new one.
He called for more filing from both sides over the next 2 1/2
weeks about how to proceed in light of Trump's impending return
to the White House.
Trump's lawyers want the case to be dismissed outright, and
immediately. They have said that it otherwise will interfere
with his presidential transition and duties.
Prosecutors have indicated that they're open to putting the case
on hold, perhaps as long as he's in office, but they don't want
it to be scrapped altogether. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin
Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution needs to balance the
obligations of the presidency with "the sanctity of the jury
verdict.”
Bragg's office declined to comment on Friday's ruling. Trump
spokesperson and incoming White House communications director
Steven Cheung hailed it as “a decisive win” for Trump.
Trump, a Republican, was convicted in May of falsifying his
business' records to disguise the true nature of a chain of
payments that provided $130,000 to porn actor Stormy Daniels.
She received it, through Trump's then-lawyer, in the waning days
of the 2016 presidential campaign.
The payout was meant to keep her quiet about a sexual encounter
she says she had with the married Trump a decade earlier. He
denies her claim and says he did nothing wrong.
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