Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday asked a judge to pause further proceedings in the criminal trial against President-elect Donald Trump in order to give both sides time to weigh the unprecedented nature of the situation.
A jury in May found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. But now that Trump has been elected president and will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2025, New York state Judge Juan Merchan should weigh arguments specifically on whether the case should be dismissed, the district attorney and assistant district attorneys argued in a legal filing.
The judge had last week paused Trump's sentencing in the case, which had been pushed to Nov. 26, to give both sides more time to make their arguments.
The prosecutors' office asked for a December 9 deadline for the next filing, focused on whether the case should be dismissed. The judge is likely to acquiesce to the request as both the defense and prosecution appear to be in agreement.
In their motion, Manhattan prosecutors said the judge must weigh how to balance Trump's status as president-elect with the verdict of the jury.
"The People deeply respect the Office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency, and acknowledge that Defendant's inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions. We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system," the filing said.
Trump's lawyers had asked for the case to be immediately dismissed because Trump was elected to a second term in the White House, and because of a July Supreme Court ruling given presidents immunity from prosecution for official acts in office. Trump's defense had argued the hush-money trial partly relied on evidence taken from Trump's first term as president.
Steven Cheung, Trump's communications director, called the request for a pause "a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide."
But the prosecutors on the case said the jury's deliberations, which came before the July Supreme Court ruling, should also be given weight — and suggested they may argue the case should wait until after Trump's second term in office.
"Given the need to balance competing constitutional interests, consideration must be given to various non-dismissal options that may address any concerns raised by the pendency of a posttrial criminal proceeding during the presidency, such as deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of Defendant's upcoming presidential term," the filing said.
Merchan had been expected to rule on Tuesday on whether the Supreme Court decision gives Trump immunity from prosecution in this trial. The filing from the attorneys signals the next decision in the case is likely to be broader than that: about whether the entire case should be thrown out.
"The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue. The lawless case is now stayed, and President Trump's legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all," Cheung, the Trump spokesman, said in a statement. Trump on the campaign trail had argued that the legal cases against him were motivated by politics.
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