Donald Trump sits in a courtroom at Manhattan Criminal Court, in New York, on May 30.SETH WENIG/AFP/Getty Images
New York prosecutors oppose any effort to dismiss president-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction, but they expressed openness Tuesday to delaying sentencing until after his second term.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a court filing that Mr. Trump’s forthcoming presidency isn’t grounds for dropping a case that was already tried. But, citing “the need to balance competing constitutional interests,” prosecutors said “consideration must be given” to shelving the case until after he’s out of office.
At the least, prosecutors said they’re OK delaying Mr. Trump’s sentencing – which had been set for Tuesday – while his lawyers fight to get the case tossed out.
Justice Juan M. Merchan has not said when he will rule on the fate of the first criminal conviction of a former, and now future, U.S. commander-in-chief. But with the sentencing schedule now effectively on hold, Mr. Trump’s lawyers are pursuing multiple legal paths to try to dispose of the case – an effort that could reach the Supreme Court because of the unprecedented questions involved.
The president-elect was convicted in May of falsifying business records to cover up a scheme to influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to squelch a story of extramarital sex. Mr. Trump denies the allegations.
After Mr. Trump’s election win this month, his lawyers urged Justice Merchan to throw out the case and implored prosecutors to endorse that outcome, writing that the case must be scrapped “to facilitate the orderly transition of executive power – and in the interests of justice.”
Justice Merchan gave prosecutors until Tuesday to weigh in on how to proceed.
Prosecutors responded that they “are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency” but also “deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system.”
Trump spokesperson and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung cast Tuesday’s filing from prosecutors as “a total and definitive victory for President Trump” in a case that he has long deplored as a “witch hunt.”
“President Trump’s legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all,” Mr. Cheung said in a statement.
The judge last week delayed ruling on Mr. Trump’s earlier bid to reverse his conviction because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in July that gave presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
A dismissal would erase Mr. Trump’s conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record as well as a possible prison sentence.
Justice Merchan could also decide to delay the case for some period, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Mr. Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court or choose some other option.
Mr. Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a US$130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier. The payment was made shortly before the 2016 election.
Mr. Trump says they did not have sex and denies any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors cast the payout as part of a Trump-driven effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him. Mr. Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels. Mr. Trump later reimbursed him, and Mr. Trump’s company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses – concealing what they really were, prosecutors alleged.
Mr. Trump has pledged to appeal the verdict if the case is not dismissed. He and his lawyers said the payments to Mr. Cohen were properly categorized as being for legal work.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers have been fighting for months to reverse his conviction.
A month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for official acts – things they did in the course of running the country – and that prosecutors can’t cite those actions to bolster a case centred on purely personal, unofficial conduct.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue that the hush money jury got some improper evidence, such as Mr. Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form, testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made during his first term.
Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case.
After Mr. Trump’s election win, his lawyers redoubled their efforts. They said Mr. Trump’s status as president-elect affords him “the same complete immunity” from prosecution as he would enjoy while president.
“To require President Trump to address further criminal proceedings at this point would not only violate the federal Constitution, but also disrupt the presidential transition process,” Mr. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote.
Mr. Trump has tapped both for high-ranking jobs in his Justice Department.
If the verdict stands and the case proceeds to sentencing, Mr. Trump’s punishments would range from a fine or probation to up to four years in prison – but it’s unlikely he’d spend any time behind bars for a first-time conviction involving charges in the lowest tier of felonies.
Because it is a state case, Mr. Trump would not be able to pardon himself once he returns to office. Presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes.
The hush money case was the only one of Mr. Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial.
Special counsel Jack Smith is taking steps to wind down Mr. Trump’s federal election interference and classified documents cases. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Ga., is largely on hold.
Mr. Trump, a Republican, pleaded not guilty in all four cases, and he has decried the hush money verdict as a “rigged, disgraceful” result. He has claimed, without evidence, that the case brought by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg was part of a Democratic effort to harm Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.