Donald Trump's sentencing in hush money case has been delayed indefinitely. Trump’s team called it a “decisive win” as he prepares to return to the White House.
Judge Juan Merchan on Friday said in an order in New York, “The joint application for a stay of sentencing is granted to the extent that the November 26, 2024 date is adjourned.”
Initially set for November 26, the sentencing was halted ahead of his January succession of Joe Biden.
Trump's legal team cited a landmark July ruling from the Supreme Court that gives presidents sweeping immunity for official acts committed while in office to justify their request. Accordingly, Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, said in a statement, “In a decisive win for President Trump, the hoax Manhattan Case is now fully stayed, and sentencing is adjourned.”
“President Trump won a landslide victory as the American People have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the Witch Hunt cases.”
In May, Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felony charges after a jury concluded he had falsified business records to hide an alleged affair with a porn star before the 2016 election. Prosecutors claimed the cover-up aimed to boost his chances during his first presidential campaign.
Alongside the hush money case, Trump faces two active federal cases: one related to his effort to overturn the 2020 election and the other connected to classified documents he allegedly mishandled after leaving office.
In the election interference case, Special Counsel Jack Smith has moved to vacate deadlines, delaying the case indefinitely—but not yet dropping it outright—in line with long-standing Justice Department policy not to prosecute sitting US presidents.
A Trump-appointed federal judge already threw out the documents case, but Smith had sought to appeal that decision.
As president, Trump would be able to intervene to end those cases
