NY Judge Agrees to Hear Trump’s Bid to Dismiss Criminal Case

The New York judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money case said he will consider the president-elect’s latest arguments on why it should be dismissed.

The state judge, Juan Merchan, also said in his order on Friday that Trump wouldn’t be sentenced on Nov. 26, as previously scheduled. Instead, Merchan said he would weigh motions from Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors before proceeding. He didn’t set a new sentencing date.

Trump faces as many as four years in prison after a jury in May found him guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for payments to an adult film star before the 2016 election. His lawyers have argued that pursuing the case would be “uniquely destabilizing to the country” and interfere with his duties as president-elect and the presidency.

Prosecutors working for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said this week that they’ll fight any attempt to dismiss the case, but indicated they are open to delaying any proceedings while Trump is in the White House.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Ben Bain at bbain2@bloomberg.net

Peter Jeffrey

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