Donald Trump asked a New York state judge on Tuesday to dismiss the criminal case in which he was convicted in May of 34 crimes related to the payment of surreptitious money to a porn star, in light of her victory in the US presidential election on November 5.
Judge Juan Merchán last month indefinitely delayed Trump’s sentencing, scheduled for November 26, to give him the opportunity to request a dismissal.
Trump’s lawyers argue that the fact that the case looms over his four-year presidential term, which begins Jan. 20, would cause “unconstitutional impediments” to the Republican businessman-turned-politician’s ability to govern.
Lawyers in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office supported delaying sentencing to give Trump a chance to make his case for dismissal, although they said they would oppose it. Prosecutors have until December 9 to respond.
The judge has not indicated when he will rule on the petition and has not set a new date for sentencing. Bragg’s office has suggested that he delay all proceedings in the case until Trump, 78, leaves the White House in 2029.
The New York case stemmed from a $130,000 payment that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she has said she had a decade earlier with Trump, who denies it.
A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up his repayment to Cohen. It was the first time that a United States president – former or sitting – was convicted or charged with a criminal offense.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, which he has tried to portray as a politically motivated attempt by Bragg, a Democrat, to interfere in his presidential campaign.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years in prison. Before he was elected, experts said it was unlikely — though not impossible — that Trump would spend time behind bars, and saw punishments such as a fine or probation as more likely.
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