Trump Hush Money Case—What’s Next As Judge Rules on Throwing Out Conviction

Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s hush money case are set to file paperwork on Tuesday outlining how they believe the case should proceed following his victory in the 2024 election.
Three other criminal cases involving Trump are facing delays following his election victory and could potentially be dismissed. These include the classified documents case, as well as state and federal cases in which he is accused of election interference. Trump denies wrongdoing in all cases.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, overseeing two federal cases against the president-elect, is expected to resign before Inauguration Day. As a result, Trump is unlikely to face any additional criminal convictions before beginning his second term.
Newsweek has contacted the president-elect’s transition team for comment.
Meanwhile, since Trump won re-election, his sentencing date in the hush money case has remained on hold indefinitely. But that could all change on Tuesday.
In May, Trump became the first former U.S. president to be criminally convicted when he was convicted in the hush money case. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
It came after multiple delays in the case, due to a series of tactics deployed by his legal team, as well as a Supreme Court ruling in June, which found that former presidents have some immunity from criminal prosecution for “official” actions.
As a result of the ruling, the three other criminal cases Trump is involved in have also faced delays, dashing state and federal prosecutors’ hopes that their respective cases would be taken to trial before Election Day.
Meanwhile, the hush money case is also now facing further delays now that Trump has won the election, and the conviction could even be thrown out.
Last week, Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the hush money case, delayed the decision on whether to throw out the president-elect’s conviction until 19 November, on presidential immunity grounds.
Trump’s lawyers argued over the weekend that there are “strong reasons for the requested stay, and eventually dismissal of the case in the interests of justice.”
Judge Merchan has also delayed Trump’s sentencing until 26 November. In September, he said the decision was made “to avoid any appearance – however unwarranted – that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching presidential election in which the defendant is a candidate”.
Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced on 10 July.
The paperwork is expected to reveal whether the conviction against Trump will be thrown out, or if he will sentenced in the case.
If prosecutors agree with the defense, the two parties could present a united front to the trial judge, who could then vacate the verdict or dismiss the indictment in its entirety.
But if prosecutors decide not to throw in the towel, it will be up to judge Merchan to break the impasse.
Trump faces up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine for each of the 34 felony counts. However, it is unlikely he will face jail time, and any sentence handed down in the next two months would also be very quickly “stayed”—meaning put on ice—for many years as Trump appeals, Business Insider reported.
Trump has been convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a scheme to conceal hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the days leading up to the 2016 presidential election, in exchange for her silence about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said the falsifications were meant to cover up Trump’s violation of New York state election law, which bans illegal methods to influence elections. Prosecutors argued that the $130,000 payment to Daniels was an illicit campaign contribution, exceeding the $2,700 individual limit.
Trump has denied all the charges against him, and has claimed the cases are part of a political witch hunt.