New York Judge Juan Merchan has indicated that he is considering taking bold new action regarding President-elect Donald Trump’s conviction earlier this year. Reports suggest he is seriously considering dismissing the Trump case under his jurisdiction, referencing both the president-elect’s decisive victory and the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling earlier this year.
Trump was initially scheduled to be sentenced in July, following his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The charges, brought forth by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, carried the potential for prison time. At the request of Trump’s lawyers and in light of the election, Judge Merchan reluctantly agreed to postpone the sentencing hearing until November 26th, a hearing that CNN’s chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid now suggests is unlikely to occur.
“I’m told that his legal team is going to try to make sure that sentencing never happens,” she told anchor Jake Tapper, the New York Post reported. “As we know, their usual strategy is always to just try to get things delayed. But here they’re going to argue to the judge that the sentencing should never happen because now that Trump is president-elect, they will say that he is entitled to the same constitutional protections as a sitting president and should be protected from state actors and in this case, state prosecutors and the judge overseeing that case.”
“He’s giving himself a deadline of November 12th to decide if the conviction against Trump should be tossed based on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on immunity. If he tosses the conviction, there’ll be no sentencing. But if that sentencing continues to go forward, this is the argument that the Trump team is going to make.” Other legal experts told the Post that all hopes of seeing the president-elect in a striped jumpsuit are now dead and dashed. “Merchan doesn’t have the stomach to imprison a former president or president-elect,” former prosecutor Neama Rahmani said. “Now that Trump has won, his criminal problems go away.”
In August, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against Trump, initiated by Biden Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, citing the immunity ruling. Trump is expected to act quickly to dismiss Smith’s second case, which alleges election interference stemming from the January 6th, 2021, riots at the Capitol. However, the federal prosecutor has more pressing concerns. Shortly before the election, Trump vowed to fire Smith “within two seconds” of taking office, as reported by the BBC, emphasizing his intention to assert control over the Justice Department and appoint a reliable U.S. attorney general. Trump has consistently labeled the criminal and civil cases against him as part of a “political witch hunt” aimed at undermining his campaign.
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