New York prosecutors say they will oppose dismissing Donald Trump's hush money conviction; agree to delay sentencing
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan and President-elect Donald Trump. Credit: AP / Seth Wenig, Yuki Iwamura
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said Tuesday it objects to dismissing President-elect Donald Trump’s historic felony conviction at his hush money trial based on a claim of presidential immunity, but agreed to postpone his sentencing and would give "consideration" to delaying it for up to four years — the span of his presidential term.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in a letter to the presiding judge that was released Tuesday, said prosecutors would not oppose delaying Trump's sentencing, which was scheduled for Nov. 26, while Trump's defense argues for Trump's conviction to be vacated.
"The People believe that further proceedings before this Court should be adjourned to permit litigation of Defendant's forthcoming motion to dismiss and, therefore, the People would not oppose a defense motion for a stay of further proceedings before this Court while Defendant's motion is adjudicated," said Bragg in the letter, which raised the specter of postponing Trump’s sentencing for four years — until he’s out of the White House.
"Given the need to balance competing constitutional interests, consideration must be given to various non-dismissal options that may address any concerns raised by the pendency of a posttrial criminal proceeding during the presidency, such as deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of Defendant's upcoming presidential term," the district attorney’s letter said.
Trump’s team equated the district attorney’s position with a win. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan must sign off on the delay.
"This is a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide," said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung. "The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue. ... President Trump’s legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all."
Bragg's office, however, said it intended to object to the defense's efforts to have the jury's guilty verdict against Trump vacated.
"No current law establishes that a president's temporary immunity from prosecution requires dismissal of a posttrial criminal proceeding that was initiated at a time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution and that is based on unofficial conduct for which the defendant is also not immune," Bragg wrote. "Rather, existing law suggests that the Court must balance competing constitutional interests and proceed 'in a manner that preserves both the independence of the Executive and the integrity of the criminal justice system.' "
Trump’s defense attorneys, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, in a letter to the judge earlier this month, argued for the jury’s verdict to be overturned based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for official acts.
"A sitting President is completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal, and the same immunity extends to a President-elect during his transition into the Presidency," the defense wrote in its Nov. 8 letter to the judge, which was released Tuesday. "The same complete immunity from criminal process of any kind extends to a President-Elect during the transition period. There is no material difference between President Trump's current status after his overwhelming victory in the national election and that of a sitting President following inauguration."
Merchan had been slated to issue a ruling Tuesday on the defense's request to set aside the jury’s verdict in the case. But a ruling from Merchan was not released Tuesday and it was unclear when a ruling on the issue would materialize.
Trump’s sentencing was initially scheduled for July, but it was delayed after the Supreme Court ruling..
Mark C. Zauderer, a Manhattan attorney who has followed the case, said the district attorney's office is trying to avoid defeat.
"In essence, the District Attorney has come up with a creative solution to address an unprecedented circumstance involving a president-elect: kicking the can down the road, and then kicking it again when it stops as each legal issue is briefed and decided," Zauderer said.
William Petrillo, a Nassau County-based attorney, said Trump is on strong legal ground to get a dismissal.
"The court still can and should grant President Trump’s request to dismiss. If for none of the multiple reasons available, then for no other reason then evidence was submitted, and reiterated during closing argument, that the Supreme Court has now, in essence, ruled was improper," said Petrillo. "It’s hard to imagine credibly parsing that out and concluding the verdict should still stand, especially when considering the myriad of additional legal flaws."
Trump was convicted in May of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide $130,000 in hush money to an adult film actress with whom he had a sexual liaison that prosecutors argued Trump was desperate to conceal from the American public as he ran for president in the 2016 election cycle.
He was the first president or former president to be convicted of a crime. Trump was also the first former president to be held in contempt of court after Merchan did so when Trump violated an order prohibiting him from speaking publicly about court staff or jurors.
If Trump is sentenced, he faces up to 4 years in prison. However, some legal experts have speculated that Trump, who has no prior criminal convictions, would likely receive probation.
Separately, last week, Trump announced plans to nominate Blanche as deputy attorney general and Bove as principal associate deputy attorney general.
Legal experts have also cited the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause — a legal principle that dictates federal law eclipses state law — and is understood to dictate that states can’t prosecute a sitting president.
At Trump’s trial earlier this year, prosecutors alleged that Trump plotted a "criminal conspiracy" to win the election about two months after he announced his first run for president in June 2015.
Trump executed a series of "catch and kill" plans by paying off people alleging to have negative stories about him in partnership with his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen and tabloid publisher David Pecker, prosecutors said.
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000; former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also alleged to have had an affair with Trump, was paid $150,000; and Dino Sajudin, a door attendant at Trump Tower who had shopped a false story that Trump fathered a child outside his marriage, was paid $30,000.
The payment to Daniels was illegally recorded in Trump Organization records as legal services part of a retainer agreement, but neither the retainer nor the legal services existed, prosecutors have said.
The district attorney’s office upgraded the misdemeanor charge of falsifying business records to a Class E felony, under the legal theory that the crimes were committed in order to cover up the crime of conspiracy to promote an election by unlawful means.
Trump later reimbursed Cohen for the payment to Daniels, prosecutors argued at trial. But Trump’s defense contended Cohen was still Trump’s personal attorney at the time and the alleged reimbursement payments were Cohen’s monthly fee for providing legal services to Trump.
With Janon Fisher
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said Tuesday it objects to dismissing President-elect Donald Trump’s historic felony conviction at his hush money trial based on a claim of presidential immunity, but agreed to postpone his sentencing and would give "consideration" to delaying it for up to four years — the span of his presidential term.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in a letter to the presiding judge that was released Tuesday, said prosecutors would not oppose delaying Trump's sentencing, which was scheduled for Nov. 26, while Trump's defense argues for Trump's conviction to be vacated.
"The People believe that further proceedings before this Court should be adjourned to permit litigation of Defendant's forthcoming motion to dismiss and, therefore, the People would not oppose a defense motion for a stay of further proceedings before this Court while Defendant's motion is adjudicated," said Bragg in the letter, which raised the specter of postponing Trump’s sentencing for four years — until he’s out of the White House.
"Given the need to balance competing constitutional interests, consideration must be given to various non-dismissal options that may address any concerns raised by the pendency of a posttrial criminal proceeding during the presidency, such as deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of Defendant's upcoming presidential term," the district attorney’s letter said.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said Tuesday it objects to dismissing President-elect Donald Trump’s historic felony conviction at his hush money trial based on a claim of presidential immunity.
- But the office agreed to postpone his Nov. 26 sentencing and would give "consideration" to delaying it for up to four years — the span of his presidential term.
- Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan must sign off on the delay.
Trump’s team equated the district attorney’s position with a win. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan must sign off on the delay.
"This is a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide," said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung. "The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue. ... President Trump’s legal team is moving to get it dismissed once and for all."
Bragg's office, however, said it intended to object to the defense's efforts to have the jury's guilty verdict against Trump vacated.
"No current law establishes that a president's temporary immunity from prosecution requires dismissal of a posttrial criminal proceeding that was initiated at a time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution and that is based on unofficial conduct for which the defendant is also not immune," Bragg wrote. "Rather, existing law suggests that the Court must balance competing constitutional interests and proceed 'in a manner that preserves both the independence of the Executive and the integrity of the criminal justice system.' "
Trump’s defense attorneys, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, in a letter to the judge earlier this month, argued for the jury’s verdict to be overturned based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for official acts.
"A sitting President is completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal, and the same immunity extends to a President-elect during his transition into the Presidency," the defense wrote in its Nov. 8 letter to the judge, which was released Tuesday. "The same complete immunity from criminal process of any kind extends to a President-Elect during the transition period. There is no material difference between President Trump's current status after his overwhelming victory in the national election and that of a sitting President following inauguration."
Merchan had been slated to issue a ruling Tuesday on the defense's request to set aside the jury’s verdict in the case. But a ruling from Merchan was not released Tuesday and it was unclear when a ruling on the issue would materialize.
Trump’s sentencing was initially scheduled for July, but it was delayed after the Supreme Court ruling..
Mark C. Zauderer, a Manhattan attorney who has followed the case, said the district attorney's office is trying to avoid defeat.
"In essence, the District Attorney has come up with a creative solution to address an unprecedented circumstance involving a president-elect: kicking the can down the road, and then kicking it again when it stops as each legal issue is briefed and decided," Zauderer said.
William Petrillo, a Nassau County-based attorney, said Trump is on strong legal ground to get a dismissal.
"The court still can and should grant President Trump’s request to dismiss. If for none of the multiple reasons available, then for no other reason then evidence was submitted, and reiterated during closing argument, that the Supreme Court has now, in essence, ruled was improper," said Petrillo. "It’s hard to imagine credibly parsing that out and concluding the verdict should still stand, especially when considering the myriad of additional legal flaws."
Trump was convicted in May of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide $130,000 in hush money to an adult film actress with whom he had a sexual liaison that prosecutors argued Trump was desperate to conceal from the American public as he ran for president in the 2016 election cycle.
He was the first president or former president to be convicted of a crime. Trump was also the first former president to be held in contempt of court after Merchan did so when Trump violated an order prohibiting him from speaking publicly about court staff or jurors.
If Trump is sentenced, he faces up to 4 years in prison. However, some legal experts have speculated that Trump, who has no prior criminal convictions, would likely receive probation.
Separately, last week, Trump announced plans to nominate Blanche as deputy attorney general and Bove as principal associate deputy attorney general.
Legal experts have also cited the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause — a legal principle that dictates federal law eclipses state law — and is understood to dictate that states can’t prosecute a sitting president.
At Trump’s trial earlier this year, prosecutors alleged that Trump plotted a "criminal conspiracy" to win the election about two months after he announced his first run for president in June 2015.
Trump executed a series of "catch and kill" plans by paying off people alleging to have negative stories about him in partnership with his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen and tabloid publisher David Pecker, prosecutors said.
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000; former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also alleged to have had an affair with Trump, was paid $150,000; and Dino Sajudin, a door attendant at Trump Tower who had shopped a false story that Trump fathered a child outside his marriage, was paid $30,000.
The payment to Daniels was illegally recorded in Trump Organization records as legal services part of a retainer agreement, but neither the retainer nor the legal services existed, prosecutors have said.
The district attorney’s office upgraded the misdemeanor charge of falsifying business records to a Class E felony, under the legal theory that the crimes were committed in order to cover up the crime of conspiracy to promote an election by unlawful means.
Trump later reimbursed Cohen for the payment to Daniels, prosecutors argued at trial. But Trump’s defense contended Cohen was still Trump’s personal attorney at the time and the alleged reimbursement payments were Cohen’s monthly fee for providing legal services to Trump.
With Janon Fisher
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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