Manhattan prosecutors have announced they will oppose President-elect Trump’s demand to dismiss his New York criminal conviction following his election victory.
In a new letter, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) said he won’t resist adjourning Trump’s hush money sentencing next week so the judge can receive further briefing on whether to toss the case.
Though Bragg staked out firm opposition to that request, he did suggest “non-dismissal options” like halting all proceedings at least until Trump’s departure from office in 2029.
“The People deeply respect Office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency, and acknowledge that Defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions,” Bragg wrote. “We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system.”
Trump’s team celebrated the development in a statement.
“This is a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide. The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue,” Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign spokesperson and incoming White House communications director, said in the statement.
Judge Juan Merchan, who oversees the case, must decide whether to push back the Nov. 26 sentencing, toss Trump’s conviction altogether or move forward despite his election victory.
Back in May, Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records tied to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to conceal an alleged affair, which he denies, ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors said the payments fit into an intended unlawful scheme to sway the election’s outcome.
It made Trump the first former president convicted of a felony.
The charges against Trump could carry prison time, many first-time defendants convicted on such charges receive a lesser sentence.
When he returns to the White House, Trump will become the first person to assume the nation’s highest office with such a criminal record if the conviction stands.
Merchan has yet to decide whether the verdict can withstand the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision. At Trump’s request, he pushed back his ruling and the sentencing until after the election.