NY hush money case: Judge delays ruling on Trump’s conviction until November 19
FirstpostTrump was convicted of 34 felony counts in May after a jury found he had fraudulently manipulated business records to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with a porn star ahead of the 2016 election The judge in Donald Trump’s New York criminal case has delayed to November 19 a decision on potentially throwing out the US president-elect’s conviction, the court said Tuesday. Trump, due to be sentenced on November 26, may receive a reprieve if Judge Juan Merchan decides to dismiss the case following the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. ‘A severe blow’ An editorial in the Kansas City Star newspaper called for the judge in the case to “do what was once unthinkable – force a president-elect to take the oath of office in a jail cell.” “The surreal scene, while certainly shocking for the rest of the free world to witness, would send an unmistakable message – the rule of law still applies in America.” But Trump’s former attorney general Bill Barr said that both the New York case as well as others around the country had been “plainly brought for political purposes have now been extensively aired and rejected in the court of public opinion.” “Further maneuvering on these cases in the weeks ahead would serve no legitimate purpose and only distract the country and the incoming administration from the task at hand,” he wrote. Trump has repeatedly derided the case as a witch hunt, saying it “should be rightfully terminated.” Alongside the New York case, brought by state-level prosecutors, 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.