Trump urges judge to dismiss hush money case due to election

4/12/2024 6:04

        Donald Trump on Tuesday asked a New York state judge to
        dismiss the criminal case in which he was convicted in May of 34
        felony counts involving hush money paid to a porn star in light
        of his victory in the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.
        
        Justice Juan Merchan last month delayed Trump's previously
        scheduled Nov. 26 sentencing indefinitely to give him the chance
        to seek dismissal. Trump's lawyers argue having the case loom
        over his four-year presidential term that begins on Jan. 20
        would cause "unconstitutional impediments" to the Republican
        businessman-turned-politician's ability to govern.
        
        Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's
        office supported delaying the sentencing to give Trump the
        chance to make his case for dismissal, though they said they
        would oppose that bid. The prosecutors have until Dec. 9 to
        respond.
        
        The judge has not indicated when he would rule on Trump's
        motion to dismiss, and has not set a new date for sentencing.
        Bragg's office has suggested he defer all proceedings in the
        case until Trump, 78, leaves the White House in 2029.
        
        The New York case stemmed from a $130,000 payment Trump's
        former lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy
        Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual
        encounter she has said she had a decade earlier with Trump, who
        denies it.
        
        A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business
        records to cover up his reimbursement of Cohen. It was the first
        time a U.S. president - former or sitting - had been convicted
        of or charged with a criminal offense.
        
        Trump pleaded not guilty in the case, which he has sought to
        portray as a politically motivated attempt by Bragg, a Democrat,
        to interfere with his presidential campaign.
        
        Falsification of business records is punishable by up to
        four years in prison. Before he was elected, experts said it was
        unlikely - but not impossible - that Trump would face time
        behind bars, with punishments such as a fine or probation seen
        as more likely.
        
        Trump's victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala
        Harris in the Nov. 5 election made the prospect of imposing a
        sentence of jail or probation even more politically fraught and
        impractical, given that a sentence could have impeded his
        ability to conduct the duties of the presidency.
        
        Trump was charged in three additional state and federal
        criminal cases in 2023, one involving classified documents he
        kept after leaving office and two others involving his efforts
        to overturn his 2020 election loss.
        
        He pleaded not guilty in all three cases. None have gone to
        trial.
        
        A Washington judge on Nov. 25 dismissed the federal criminal
        case over his attempts to hold onto power. Prosecutors had moved
        to drop both that case and the classified documents case due to
        a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting
        president.
        
        Trump also faces state criminal charges in Georgia over his
        bid to reverse his 2020 loss in that state, but that case
        remains in limbo.
        
        As president, Trump would have no power to shut down the New
        York or Georgia cases because they were filed in state courts.
        
        Trump in November nominated his defense lawyers in the hush
        money case, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, to serve senior roles at
        the Justice Department during his administration.