Trump asks federal appeals court to delay his already-delayed criminal hush-money case
Former President Donald Trump is asking a federal appeals court to delay his criminal hush money case in New York days after a Manhattan judge delayed his sentencing to Nov. 26, after the election.
Justice Juan Merchan delayed Trump's sentencing in the hush money fraud case last week from Sept. 18 until after the election. The judge also said he'd rule Nov. 12 on whether to dismiss Trump's 34 convictions due to the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling.
Now, Trump is requesting that a federal appeals court pause his case, ABC News reported. Trump's lawyers appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit seeking an "en banc" hearing on Trump's request to have the case indefinitely paused so the federal courts can weigh in on the immunity ruling.
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"Such a stay is appropriate in order to preserve Trump's right to a fair and orderly litigation of the Presidential immunity defense in a federal forum," lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in a letter to the Second Circuit.
In a ruling last week, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied Trump's bid to move the case from writing, "Nothing in the Supreme Court's opinion affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority."
Trump's attorneys have asked the Second Circuit to stop Hellerstein's ruling.