BREAKING: Judge Juan Merchan indefinitely delays continuation of NYC Trump case

New York City Judge Juan Merchan, who was scheduled to commence sentencing against President-elect Donald Trump in the fraudulent business documents, or "hush money" case against him, has indefinitely postponed the proceeding. When Merchan adjourned the coming sentencing hearing, Trump declared "victory" over the suit.

In a Decision and Order, he wrote that the "Defendant's request for leave to file a motion to dismiss pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law is GRANTED; and it is further ORDERED that the joint request for a motion schedule is GRANTED." Merchan further "ORDERED that the joint application for a stay of sentencing is GRANTED to the extent that the November 26, 2024, date is adjourned." Merchan also said that he would not release his decision on the impact of the Supreme Court's immunity ruling on the case until such time as Defendant and Prosecutor submit their paperwork, after December 2.

In short, Trump will not face sentencing for the 34 felony convictions Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg won against him. Those counts represented the entry of documents into bookkeeping records and the signing of checks for payments to Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election and afterwards. Cohen allegedly then made payments to porn star Stormy Daniels with the understanding that she would not speak publicly about an alleged dalliance she had with Trump prior to his political career. 

Bragg brought the 34 charges against Trump, claiming that the falsification of business records, usually prosecuted as a misdemeanor, were felonies in this case as he said they were in service to a larger felony crime. The crime was never named. A Manhattan jury was instructed that they did not have to agree on what the felony crimes were in order to deliver a guilty verdict, which they did. Prior to Merchan's ability to deliver a sentence, the Supreme Court weighed in on the question of presidential immunity, which was brought by Trump's legal team in a separate case against him, this one on federal charges.

The Court said that presidents have immunity for actions committed as part of their official acts in office. The cases against Trump at the federal level, both prosecuted by DOJ special prosecutor Jack Smith, were returned to the courts to determine which of those acts for which he was being prosecuted actually fell under presidential immunity and were therefore not prosecutable.

The case of the classified documents, being tried in the court room of Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida, was dismissed altogether. Smith attempted to keep it active, but was not able to do so. In his J6 case against Trump, he attempted to say that the alleged crimes were not protected by immunity, but has since begun wrapping up that case for the purpose of ending it without a judicial conclusion. Merchan did not get around to making his ruling on the immunity piece, and the Georgia case has hit a snag over alleged conflicts of interest with the prosecuting DA, and the hearing that was scheduled in that matter has been indefinitely postponed.