Trump DA Faces Deadline as New York Hush Money Case in Limbo

Patricia Hurtado and Erik Larson
·3-min read

(Bloomberg) -- The Manhattan prosecutor who won the only criminal conviction of Donald Trump faces a Tuesday deadline to say how he thinks the case should proceed in light of the former president’s reelection.

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Whether the so-called hush money case proceeds to sentencing, gets delayed for four years or is simply dismissed outright is an open question hanging over the president-elect. Judge Juan Merchan asked for District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s recommendation last week after the election results dragged an already unprecedented case into even murkier legal waters.

Trump faces as long as four years in prison after a jury in May found him guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to payments to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election. But his lawyers are moving quickly to toss out the case as well as three other federal and state criminal prosecutions before his inauguration in January.

The New York hush money case, however, might prove the most difficult to resolve because of the jury verdict.

“A jury’s determination of guilt is somewhat sacrosanct,” said Rebecca Roiphe, a professor at New York Law School who is also a former Manhattan state prosecutor. To throw out the verdict, “there has to be some glaring impropriety or problem with the evidence or some other misconduct. It does happen, but it’s extremely rare.”

A spokesman for Bragg’s office declined to comment and a lawyer for Trump didn’t immediately return a message. While the deadline for the motion is 10 a.m. Tuesday, it can take hours or even days for the filing to be released to the public.

The Manhattan case has been at a standstill since the election. Merchan put off a decision to rule on a request to dismiss the case on Presidential immunity grounds until at least Tuesday and the sentencing of Trump, which had been scheduled for Nov. 26, is also in limbo.

‘Strong Reasons’

Lawyers for Trump, 78, argue that his reelection gives “strong reasons” to pause the sentencing or even dismiss the case “to avoid unconstitutional impediments” related to his ability to govern when he takes office. Trump has always denied the charges, saying they were part of a political witch hunt.

The president-elect is having more success with the other prosecutions against him.

The Justice Department and the special counsel overseeing the federal criminal cases against Trump are already preparing to drop the case against the president-elect before he is sworn in to comply with a department policy that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted, officials said.

A case in Georgia was already on hold while an appellate court reviewed whether the DA there should be disqualified because of her relationship with another prosecutor. An appellate court hearing on the disqualification issue scheduled for Dec. 5 was canceled Monday without explanation.

Cheryl Bader, a professor at Fordham Law School in New York, said that it is more likely the sentencing in the New York case is postponed until after Trump leaves office, rather than the case being thrown out.

‘Messy Business’

“The DA’s office put a lot of resources into a well-investigated and well-tried case with strong evidence of guilt and a decisive jury verdict on all counts,” Bader said. “I don’t think they would ‘roll-over’ simply because Trump won reelection. However, sentencing an incoming president is messy business.”

If Bragg argues the case should proceed and Merchan rejects Trump’s request to throw out the case, there will likely be more legal maneuvers that end up in a series of appeals that will likely go all the way to the Supreme Court.

“I can’t imagine that’s where this all ends,” Roiphe said.

(Adds delay in Georgia case in 11th paragraph.)

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