On Tuesday, the judge overseeing President-elect Donald Trump’s case in New York regarding his non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Stormy Daniels has delayed his decision on sentencing yet again.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, Judge Juan Merchan’s latest delay came after former President Trump emerged victorious in the 2024 election. As the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the former and future President has sweeping presidential immunity, Merchan is taking another week to consider whether or not the charges and subsequent sentencing should be dropped altogether.
President Trump’s attorneys argued that “there are strong reasons” to halt proceedings given the fact that he is about to return to the White House. His defense team further insisted upon the “eventual dismissal of the case in the interests of justice.”
“The stay, and dismissal, are necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern,” Trump’s lawyers said in a letter to Merchan. Merchan ultimately agreed to delay his decision on dropping the charges to November 19th, given “unprecedented circumstances” that have arisen in the case as a result of the election.
In May, President Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of allegedly “falsifying business records” due to signing an NDA with Stormy Daniels, who claims with no evidence that she had an affair with Trump prior to the 2016 election. Although the charges carry a maximum sentence of four years in prison, cases such as these are more likely to see lesser sentences, such as fines and probation, handed out instead.
Sentencing for President Trump was originally scheduled for September 18th, before Merchan agreed to delay it back to November 26th. Now even that hearing is likely to be canceled yet again following Merchan’s Tuesday delay.
Many have pointed out that signing an NDA is not a crime, and have accused both Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D-N.Y.) and Judge Merchan of corruption for pursuing a criminal case in this matter. Merchan in particular faced a clear conflict of interest when it was revealed that his daughter, Loren Merchan, works as a Democratic fundraiser and worked for several high-profile Democrats who explicitly fundraised off of the Trump trial, including Senator-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). However, Merchan refused to recuse himself and repeatedly showed bias against President Trump and his attorneys in the courtroom.
Since President Trump’s historic victory last Tuesday, most legal experts believe that he will ultimately not be sentenced, due to regaining presidential immunity.