Manhattan DA says Trump's second removal effort should not put hush money case on ice

The Manhattan district attorney's office said former President Trump's latest effort to remove his hush money criminal case to federal court should not put proceedings on ice as his sentencing nears.

In a Friday letter to Judge Juan Merchan that was made public Tuesday, state prosecutors said the court should not heed requests to delay due to Trump's removal bid, instead suggesting the judge should rule on the former president's outstanding motions regarding presidential immunity and the timing of his sentencing.

"Federal law is clear that proceedings in this Court need not be stayed pending the district
court's resolution of defendant's removal notice," Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo wrote.

Trump last week asked for a second time to move his New York state criminal case to federal court, suggesting that pushing ahead with the "purely political" state prosecution would cause him "direct and irreparable harm" in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump's lawyers asked Merchan in a Thursday letter to refrain from ruling on his presidential immunity motion and said the judge "may not" move forward with Trump's Sept. 18 sentencing while the removal proceeding is ongoing.

The Manhattan district attorney's office said Trump's concerns over timing as November nears are a result of his "own strategic and dilatory litigation tactics," noting the former president's second removal effort came nearly 10 months after dropping his first unsuccessful attempt and three months after his conviction.

However, the office maintained its previous position that it will defer to Merchan on whether Trump's sentencing should move forward as scheduled.

Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, made to a porn actor to keep her alleged affair with Trump a secret ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump denies the affair and any wrongdoing regarding the payment.