Trump wins stay in hush-money case, allowing him time to argue for its dismissal

Donald Trump

Two weeks from his sentencing date, President-elect Donald Trump has won at least a temporary stay in his criminal hush-money case.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan agreed to stay all deadlines in the case for at least a week in a written decision Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg did not contest the stay, requested by Trump’s legal team to allow time to prepare further arguments for the outright dismissal of the case.

The stay freezes all deadlines in Trump’s one felony conviction until at least November 19.

It allows his lawyers time to argue again that the case should be dismissed in the interest of justice, given his election and the US Supreme Court’s landmark July decision granting presidents broad immunity from prosecution for official acts.

The stay also allows prosecutors time to file a response explaining “your view of appropriate steps going forward,” as Merchan instructed prosecutors. Merchan’s letter does not say when the DA response must be filed.

The stay is the latest ripple effect in Trump’s favor following the SCOTUS decision and last week’s election.

The future of Trump’s three other felony cases — federal election-interference and government document-retention indictments under special counsel Jack Smith, and state election-interference charges under District Attorney Fani Willis of Fulton County, Georgia — are also in legal limbo after Trump’s decisive win last week.

On Friday, the judge in the Washington, DC-based election-interference case similarly froze all deadlines until at least December 2 on agreement with the special counsel. Smith is continuing to appeal the dismissal of the Florida-based documents case.

In the hush-money case, two pending deadlines are now at least temporarily wiped from the calendar.

In two weeks, on November 26, he was scheduled for sentencing. It is the third time that the sentencing date has been cancelled. A July date and a September date were adjourned due to the SCOTUS decision and the then-pending election.

And Tuesday was to be the day Merchan issued a written decision on whether the case, or at least the verdict, would be voided on grounds that grand jurors and trial jurors were presented with official-act evidence now banned under the US Supreme Court’s July presidential immunity decision.

Instead of deciding thumbs up or down on that immunity motion, Merchan announced the deadline stay in a three-paragraph letter to prosecutors and defense lawyers. Attached were email correspondence between the parties leading up to the decision.

A spokesperson for the DA and lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.