Trump seeks to delay sentencing in NY
Lawyers to file appeals in hush money case
by: Luc Cohen
and Andrew Goudsward
Reuters
NEW YORK - President-elect Donald Trump asked a New York judge on Monday [01/06/2025] to delay his January 10 [2025] sentencing on his criminal conviction on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.
.....
Trump's lawyers said in a court filing that they planned to file appeals on Monday [01/06/2025] of Justice Juan Merchan's decisions denying Trump's bids to dismiss the case due to presidential immunity and the demands of the presidential transition period.
..... The lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, asked Merchan to hold off on sentencing Trump while the appeals play out. Any delay would make it unlikely that Trump would be sentenced before his January 20 [2025] inauguration.
....
They asked Merchan to notify them by 2 PM. EST on Monday [01/06/2025] whether he would delay the sentencing to give them time to appeal his decision if necessary.
..... Merchan set the sentencing date on Friday, [01/10/2025] but signaled that Trump would be unlikely to face jail or other legal consequences. The judge said Trump, 78, may appear at his sentencing either in preordain or virtually.
..... The case stemmed from a $130,000 payment Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump, who denies it.
..... After a six-week trial in state criminal court in Manhattan, a jury in May [2024] found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying records to mask the payment prior to the 2016 election.
..... Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement that Trump's victory in the November 5 [2024] presidential election showed that the American people wanted "an immediate end to the weaponizaiton of our justice system."
..... Trump, a Republican, has long argued that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, brought the case to harm his reelection campaign. Bragg has said that his office routinely brings felony falsification of business records charges.
.... Bragg's office was planning to file a response to Trump's bid for a sentencing delay with the count on Monday [01/06/2025] afternoon, a spokesperson said.
..... The hush money case made Trump the first U.S. president - sitting or former - to be charged with and convicted of a crime. Since the verdict, his lawyers have made two unsuccessful attempts to have the case tossed.
.....
First, they argued that the Supreme Court's July [2024] finding in a separate criminal case against Trump that presidents cannot be prosecuted for official acts meant the hush money case must be dismissed. Merchen rejected that effort in December, [2024] writing that the hush money case concerned Trump's personal conduct.
.....
After Trump's election win, his lawyers argued that having the case hang over him while he was president would impede his ability to govern, Merchan denied that bid on Friday, [01/03/2025] writing that overturning the jury's verdict would be an affront to the rule of law.
.....
In scheduling Trump's sentencing on Friday, [01/10/2025] the judge noted that he was not inclined to send Trump to jail. He wrote that a sentence of unconditional discharge - meaning no custody fine or probation - would be the most practical approach given Trump's looming inauguration.
..... In their Monday [01/06/2025] filing, Trump's lawyer said Merchan's intention not to penalize Trump was "of no moment."
..... "Presidential immunity violations cannot be ignored in favor of a rushed pre-inauguration sentencing," the lawyers wrote.
..... Trump was charged in thee other states and federal criminal cases in 2023: one involving classified documents he kept after leaving office and two other involving his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. he pleaded not guilty in all three cases.
.....The Justice Department move to dismiss the two federal cases after Trump's election victory.
Lead prosecutor on Trump documents case leaves DOJ
..... A lead prosecutor on the criminal case accusing Trump of illegally holding on to classified documents has left the U.S. Justice Department ahead of the president's-elect's return to office, a department spokesperson confirmed on Monday. [01/06/2025]
.....
Jay Bratt, a senior national security official at the department, who was detailed to special counsel Jack Smith's office, retried form the department on Friday. [01/03/2025]
..... Trump and his allies have vowed to investigate political opponents and others who have leveled allegations of misconduct against him.
.....
Brett, 65, played a pivotal role in the investigation into sensitive national security documents that Trump took to his Mar-a-Lago residence and social club following then end of his first term as president in 2021.
..... The investigation led to a court-approved FBI search of the Florida club in August 2022 that turned up about 100 classified documents and enraged Trump and his supporters.
.....
Bratt joined Smith's office when the special counsel took over the investigation and helped secure an indictment accusing Trump of knowingly keeping the documents and obstructing U.S. government attempts to retrieve them. Bratt took the lead in arguing for the prosecution at several court hearings before Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
..... Trump pleaded not guilty.