Trump failed to delay sentencing in porn star payment case

A New York court will not delay sentencing President-elect Donald Trump in the case of payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

The BBC writes about this.

Judge Juan Mercan said the sentencing would go ahead because Trumpʼs arguments against him "are largely a repetition of arguments he has made repeatedly in the past".

In court documents, Trumpʼs lawyers argued that they are seeking "the closure of this politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from the start." His legal team is seeking a hearing on the issue in an appeals court.

“Defendant’s motion to stay these proceedings, including the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025, is hereby denied,” Judge Mercan said in his decision Monday.

What preceded

In May 2024, a New York jury found Donald Trump guilty of falsifying records to conceal a $130 000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about having sex with him. The payment was not illegal, but it was disguised as Trumpʼs payment to a lawyer for legal services. In New York state, this is considered falsifying records.

The judge has already delayed sentencing in the case twice. The prosecution urged the judge not to issue a sentence until after Donald Trumpʼs presidential term ends in 2029.

Other Trump cases

Prosecutor Jack Smith investigated Trumpʼs attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election, which led to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The investigation concerned, in particular, the nomination of fake voters in states where Trump lost and a pressure campaign against his then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election.

Cases have also been opened about Trumpʼs possession of classified documents and his alleged attempt to change the results of the presidential election in the state of Georgia.

On November 25, 2024, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion to dismiss federal charges against Trump in the cases of storing classified documents and storming the Capitol in 2021. Smith explained that the cases would not have time to be completed and sent to court before Trumpʼs inauguration in January 2025. And the US Constitution states that sitting presidents should not be subject to criminal prosecution.

The Capitol storming case has already been dropped.