The request for permission to file a motion to dismiss brought by attorneys for President-elect Donald Trump in the Manhattan business records case has been granted, a significant win for Trump and a sign the matter could be headed for dismissal.
Justice Juan Merchan issued a ruling Friday granting the request, which was filed Tuesday.
The motion to dismiss is due by December 2, and a response from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office must be submitted a week later, by Monday, December 9. Merchan also adjourned the sentencing that was set for November 26.
Incoming White House Communications Director Steven Cheung touted the development in a statement.
“In a decisive win for President Trump, the hoax Manhattan Case is now fully stayed and sentencing is adjourned,” Cheung said.
“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,” he added. “All of the sham lawfare attacks against President Trump are now destroyed and we are focused on Making America Great Again.”
In Tuesday’s letter, Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, sought a December 20 deadline to file the motion. The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decisions on dismissing the two federal cases against Trump is expected on December 2. Blanche and Bove requested a December 20 deadline to allow them time to refer to the DOJ decisions in the motion, as it has been reported that the DOJ is preparing to dismiss the cases.
Trump’s lawyers were seeking a stay in the case if Merchan had denied the request, arguing in their letter that further action should only occur after the federal Second Circuit issues rulings on pending issues.
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Prosecutors on Tuesday also filed a request with Merchan to freeze sentencing in the case for the duration of Trump’s presidency, so it would be awaiting him once he left office.
“It’s not surprising that Bragg is asking for the case to be frozen for four years, and that’s exactly the potential trap that we’ve previously explained on these pages,” Breitbart News senior legal contributor Ken Klukowski said in reaction. “It would be unjust for Merchan to allow that, and it would likely result in either the federal courts claiming jurisdiction over the prosecution or New York’s higher courts issuing a form of mandamus relief to things moving, either way ultimately resulting in President Trump winning his appeal.”
“If Merchan wants to avoid a humiliating reversal in either federal or state court, he should just dismiss this case before President Trump is inaugurated on January 20,” Klukowski added.
The cases are People v. Trump, No. 71543/23 in the Supreme Court of New York County, and New York v. Trump, No. 24-2299 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
