Trump’s hush money case delayed as judge considers presidential immunity ruling
Judge Juan M. Merchan had been set to rule on Tuesday. Instead, he told Trump’s lawyers he would delay the ruling until November 19
A judge postponed a decision on whether to undo US president-elect Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money case, after his lawyers called for freezing and ultimately dismissing the case so he can run the country.
New York Judge Juan M. Merchan had been set to rule Tuesday on their earlier request to throw out his conviction because of a US Supreme Court ruling this summer on presidential immunity. Instead, he told Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday he would delay the ruling until November 19.
According to emails filed in court, Trump lawyer Emil Bove asked for the delay over the weekend, arguing that putting the case on hold – and then ending it altogether – is “necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern”.
Prosecutors agreed to the delay.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung heralded the delay, and said the president-elect’s win makes it “abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponisation of our justice system, including this case, which should have never been filed”.
Trump won back the White House a week ago, but the legal question concerns the Republican’s status as a past president, not an impending one.
