Donald Trump's hush money sentencing 'called off' as judge weighs dismissing case after president-elect's immunity claim
11/19/2024 10:37 AM
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.
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.”
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.”
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