A judge on Tuesday put off ruling whether or not President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction should be thrown out, as his lawyers argued for dismissing it so he can run the country. New York Judge Juan M. Merchan had been set to rule Tuesday on their earlier request to throw out Trump’s historic conviction for a different reason — because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this summer on presidential immunity. Instead, Merchan told Trump’s lawyers he’d halt proceedings and delay the ruling until at least Nov. 19 so that prosecutors can give their view of what to do in light of the former and future president’s election win last week. Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors had agreed in recent days to the one-week postponement, according to emails filed in court Tuesday. Because of the “unprecedented circumstances,” prosecutors need to consider how to balance the “competing interests” of the jury’s verdict and the presidency, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung heralded the delay, and said the president-elect’s win makes it “abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, including this case, which should have never been filed.” Prosecutors declined to comment. A jury convicted Trump in May of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in 2016. The payout was to buy her silence about claims that she had sex with Trump. Trump says they didn’t have sex, denies any wrongdoing and maintains the prosecution was a political tactic meant to harm his latest campaign. Trump is a Republican. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office brought the case, is a Democrat, as is Merchan.