The Manhattan district attorney’s office said former President Trump’s latest request to move his hush money criminal case to federal court should not halt proceedings as his sentencing date approaches.
In a Friday letter to Judge Juan Merchan, made public Tuesday, state prosecutors said the court should ignore requests to delay due to Trump’s removal bid, instead recommending that the judge rule on the former president’s outstanding motions regarding presidential immunity and the timing of his sentencing. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo argued that proceedings in this Court should not be postponed until the district court resolves the defendant’s removal notice, citing federal law.
Trump last week filed for a second time to have his New York state criminal case moved to federal court, claiming that continuing with the “purely political” state prosecution will bring him “direct and irreparable harm” in the 2024 presidential election.
In a letter to Merchan on Thursday, Trump’s lawyers begged him not to rule on his presidential immunity motion. They stated that the judge “may not” proceed with Trump’s Sept. 18 sentencing while the removal case is ongoing.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office stated that Trump’s concerns about timing as November approaches are due to his “own strategic and dilatory litigation tactics,” noting that the former president’s second removal effort came nearly ten months after dropping his first unsuccessful attempt and three months after his conviction. However, the office reaffirmed its earlier position, stating that it would defer to Merchan whether Trump’s sentencing should proceed as scheduled.
Trump was convicted in May on 34 charges of falsifying business documents in connection with a hush money payment made by his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, to a porn performer to conceal her alleged affair with Trump before the 2016 presidential election. Trump denies the affair and any misconduct related to the payment.
