Trump's Criminal Charge to be Squashed by New York Judge

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Former President Donald Trump appears in court for arraignment before Judge Juan Merchan following his surrender to New York authorities at the New York County Criminal Court.  (Seth Wenig-Pool Photo via USA TODAY)

Judge Juan Merchan on Friday granted President-elect Donald Trump's request to file a motion to dismiss the charges in New York v. Trump and removed the sentencing date for the president-elect from the schedule. Merchan said Trump attorneys have until December 2 to file their motion for dismissal. Merchan said Bragg has until December 9 to respond. 

Merchan also confirmed the stay in sentencing for Trump, which was requested by both Trump and Bragg attorneys. The sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 26, but on Friday, Merchan said that date "is adjourned." 

Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung reacted to Merchan's ruling Friday, telling Fox News Digital it is a "decisive win" for the president.

"In a decisive win for President Trump, the hoax Manhattan Case is now fully stayed and sentencing is adjourned," Cheung told Fox News Digital. "President Trump won a landslide victory as the American People have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the Witch Hunt cases."

Cheung added: "All of the sham lawfare attacks against President Trump are now destroyed and we are focused on Making America Great Again." 

In a letter to Merchan on Wednesday, Trump defense attorney and now-nominee for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche demanded the case against President-elect Donald Trump be tossed. 

"On November 5, 2024, the Nation’s People issued a mandate that supersedes the political motivations of DANY’s ‘People,’" Blanche wrote. "This case must be immediately dismissed." 

Blanche said that "immediate dismissal of this case is mandated by the federal Constitution, the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and the interests of justice, in order to facilitate the orderly transition of Executive power following President Trump’s overwhelming victory in the 2024 Presidential Election." 

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside his attorney Todd Blanche as he arrives for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Blanche’s pre-motion letter on Wednesday was sent in order to request permission to file a motion to dismiss by Dec. 20 and to request a stay on all deadlines, which Bragg and New York prosecutors had agreed to. 

The letter came after Bragg on Tuesday sent a letter to Merchan requesting a stay on the case until 2029. Bragg said he would oppose Trump’s motion to dismiss but said he would be open to receiving the defense argument. 

Blanche argued that Bragg "appears to not yet be ready to dismiss this politically-motivated and fatally flawed case, which is what is mandated by the law and will happen as justice takes its course." Blanche pointed to Bragg’s own election campaign for another term as Manhattan district attorney

Blanche argued that "continuing with this case would be ‘uniquely destabilizing’ and threatens to ‘hamstring the operation of the whole governmental apparatus, bot in foreign and domestic affairs.’" 

"The Court must address these new issues and dismiss the case, prior to issuing a decision on the previously filed Presidential immunity motion," Blanche explained. "Any other action would obviously violate the presidential immunity doctrine and the Supremacy Clause." 

lanche added that "even if t

he Court were to wrongly deny the new interests-of-justice motion, which it should not do, the appropriate forum for any additional proceedings must first be resolved in President Trump’s removal appeal." 

Blanche said that if the court denies any aspect of relief, including by moving forward with any proceedings, Trump would request that the court stay the implementation of the ruling so that President Trump has "adequate time to pursue appellate review." 

Left: Former President Donald Trump attends the first day of his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 15, 2024. Right: Judge Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers on March 14, 2024, in New York. (Angela Weiss/AFP via AP, POOL/AP)

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from the yearslong investigation related to alleged hush money payments run by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance initiated the investigation, and Bragg prosecuted Trump. After an unprecedented six-week trial in New York City, a jury found the president guilty on all counts. 

Merchan last week granted a stay on all deadlines associated with conviction proceedings against Trump in the final weeks before he is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States — including the Nov. 26 sentencing date. Trump officials on Tuesday argued that Bragg's request was a representation of "a total failure of the prosecution," and interpreted the case as being "effectively over." 

Meanwhile, Trump attorneys had requested that Merchan overturn the guilty verdict altogether, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that former presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office.

The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision on presidential immunity came from a question that stemmed from charges brought against Trump in a separate, federal case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith related to the events on Jan. 6, 2021, and any alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in that case.