Trump’s electoral victory has further complicated the work of judges facing four criminal cases against him. In the Manhattan case over falsifying documents to silence Stormy Daniels, the judge in charge postponed the ruling on whether Trump could benefit from a recent Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, delaying the decision until November 19, following requests from the defense and the prosecution. The measure, according to the public prosecutor, reflects the new circumstances created by Trump’s win, who has formally become the country’s newly elected president, though he will not be sworn in until January 20.
The Republican was convicted last May by a Manhattan jury on 34 counts for illicit maneuvers to pay Daniels to keep quiet in the weeks before the 2016 election. That verdict made him the first U.S. president to be convicted in a criminal trial, though it has not toppled his political trajectory as some anticipated. The verdict date for the other case remains set for November 26, but growing doubts persist about whether the next occupant of the White House will be sentenced to prison.
The Supreme Court Ruling
“The pause in the trial and the invalidation of the proceedings may be necessary to avoid constitutional impediments to Trump’s ability to govern”, the magnate’s lawyers argued in a letter to the judge. They said a recent Supreme Court decision supports their position. The highest court has held that presidents and former presidents cannot be pursued for acts connected to their time in office. And although payments to Stormy Daniels, routed through one of Trump’s lawyers and recorded as “legal expenses” in campaign accounts, occurred before he first won the presidency, part of the evidence presented to the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, dates back to his years as commander in chief.
In recent months, Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly sought to delay the resolution of the case, a strategy that has already yielded some results. The other criminal cases against him have also been largely paused. Last week a federal judge paused the case accusing the magnate of inciting the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol, asking for time to assess how to proceed in light of the presidential outcome, given that the Department of Justice policies restrict investigations of a sitting president.
Also left in abeyance is the Florida case over the alleged mishandling of classified documents after it was dismissed by a federal judge, and the Georgia case over alleged election interference to overturn the 2016 result, which is now before an appeals court.