President-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing for his criminal conviction in May has been postponed again, a judge ruled on Friday.
It is the third time the sentencing has been postponed since Trump was found guilty for his role in covering up a “hush money” payment.
Judge Juan Merchan gave Trump’s lawyers until December 2 to file a motion to dismiss the case outright. They have argued that the case should be dismissed because Trump was elected president.
Merchan’s ruling ends months of speculation about when, if at all, Trump would learn his fate following the historic conviction in May.
Prosecutors for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a letter to Merchan on Tuesday that they do not oppose delaying the sentencing — even until after Trump’s presidency — but added that they would reject any effort to would fight to dismiss the case.
Trump’s lawyers said Tuesday evening that the conviction should be set aside and the case dismissed because Trump had been elected president. According to them, continuing with the case would be unconstitutional.
In May, a jury of 12 unanimously appointed Trump as the first former president in American history convicted of crimes. On November 5, just under half of voters made Trump the first person in American history to be elected president after being convicted of crimes.
The jury concluded Trump had committed 34 crimes after you sign a plan to hide fees from Michael Cohenhis former lawyer and fixer. The refunds involved a $130,000 payment Cohen made to an adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. Both Cohen and Daniels have said he paid for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. The payment is often referred to as a “hush money” payment.
Trump insists he is not guilty of falsifying company records — the charge for which he was convicted — and has vehemently denied Daniels’ story.