The proceedings against Donald Trump in the Stormy Daniels affair suspended sine die

A New York judge decided, Thursday, November 21, to suspend indefinitely the sentencing planned for November 26 against the now president-elect, Donald Trump, in the case of hidden payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, after a historic conviction in the spring.

Judge Juan Merchan authorizes the lawyers of the American president-elect to present an appeal by December 2 to obtain the annulment of the procedure and therefore suspends the pronouncement of the sentence. Donald Trump was convicted on May 30 in this case of “aggravated accounting falsification to conceal a conspiracy to pervert the 2016 election.”

This case is the only one in which a criminal trial took place against the Republican, out of the four in which he was charged while being a candidate in the presidential election of November 5, which he won, a scenario without precedent in American history.

After six weeks of debate, on May 30, a jury of twelve citizens unanimously found Donald Trump guilty of 34 crimes of accounting falsification to hide from voters the payment of $130,000 to the X-rated movie star. goal was to prevent a sex scandal from breaking out at the very end of his first victorious campaign, in 2016, against Hillary Clinton.

The sentence, which can range from a fine to prison, should first have been pronounced on July 11 by judge Juan Merchan, but the magistrate agreed to postpone his decision for the first time until September 18, then until November 26, after the election, in order to study new appeals from defense lawyers.

Expanded Presidential Immunity

Now elected President of the United States, Donald Trump could escape any sentence, at least until his departure from the White House in 2029. According to emails made public by the court, the defense had asked Judge Merchan “suspension and rejection [de l’affaire] to prevent President Trump from being prevented from governing”. The Manhattan prosecutor's office conceded that the ” circumstances [étaient] exceptional » and that it was necessary to find a ” balance “ between respect for“a guilty verdict by a jury after a trial” et “the presidential function”.

Even before the election of Donald Trump, his lawyers had requested the cancellation of the procedure, after a decision by the Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, on 1^is July 2024, which significantly expanded presidential immunity. This appeal was filed on the grounds that evidence used by the prosecution related to official acts during the Republican's first term in the White House (2017-2021).

Donald Trump is already certain of being able to bury the prosecutions initiated by the federal courts, in particular the heaviest on his alleged illegal attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. This was not the case for the trial of Stormy Daniels affair, which took place before the courts of the State of New York.

« Verdict ultime »

“The ultimate democratic verdict on [toutes] these lawsuits were made by the voters”had written in the New York Times US Supreme Court lawyer Thomas Goldstein before the decision. “Despite the prosecutions, more than 75 million people (…) decided to send him back to the White House”adds Mr. Goldstein, who runs the blog SCOTUSblog.

But for former prosecutor Randall Eliason, “the election should not prevent the sentence from falling, in the same way that the criminal trials did not prevent the election of Trump”. “The judge can craft a sentence that will not interfere with his presidential duties. From a judicial and historical point of view, it is important that the criminal proceedings come to an end.”he estimated on his blog Sidebars.

Since he was elected, Donald Trump has promised to appoint three of his personal lawyers, including Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who defended him at the New York trial, to key positions at the Department of Justice.