President-elect Donald Trump‘s Nov. 26 sentencing in his New York criminal hush money case was adjourned by the court as a judge mulls over how to handle the prosecution after Trump won reelection earlier this month.
The sentencing, which was scheduled for next week, was called off without explanation on Tuesday in a brief note by the court. The update came on the same day Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg faces a deadline to offer the court his recommendation for how the case should proceed.
Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial earlier this year, was initially poised to rule last week on whether the Supreme Court’s July 1 presidential immunity decision precluded the sentencing from going forward. He delayed his decision by one week to give prosecutors and the defense team more time to explain how they think the next steps should be.
This decision comes after Trump, now the president-elect, was found guilty on 34 felony counts in May. The case, tied to $130,000 paid to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, marked the first criminal trial against a former U.S. president. Trump denies the allegations and has described the trial as politically motivated.
Bragg’s team had several options, including immediate sentencing, postponing sentencing until 2029, or vacating the conviction altogether. No information was yet available on Tuesday as to how Bragg’s office plans to proceed.
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Several questions still linger despite the case’s adjournment, such as whether the court will agree to dismiss the case outright. Many legal experts have said they could not foresee sentencing taking place at this juncture, with Trump poised to reenter the Oval Office by Jan. 20.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.