DA suggests unusual idea for halting Trump’s hush money case while upholding his conviction

NEW YORK (AP) — Eager to preserve President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction even as he returns to office, prosecutors are suggesting various ways to handle the criminal case — including the novel notion of borrowing a procedure some courts use when defendants die.

In court papers made public on Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books.

The proposals include freezing the case until he’s out of office, or agreeing that any future sentence wouldn’t include jail time. Another idea: closing the case with a notation that acknowledges his conviction but says that he was never sentenced and that his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity.

The last is adopted from how some states handle cases when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether that option is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Judge Juan M. Merchan could innovate.

“Especially given the novelty of defendant’s own immunity claims, it would hardly be improper for this Court to exercise its inherent authority to consider novel remedies,” Manhattan prosecutors wrote, noting “the context of this unique case.”

Expanding on a position they laid out last month, prosecutors were adamant that the conviction should stand. They argue that Trump’s impending return to the White House should not upend a jury’s finding.

There was no immediate reaction from Trump's lawyers, who are pressing for the case to be dismissed altogether in light of his election.

The Trump team argues that letting the case continue would present unconstitutional “disruptions” to his upcoming presidential term. The attorneys also cited President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges. Biden complained that his son was unfairly prosecuted for political reasons — and Trump’s lawyers say he was, too.

It’s unclear how soon Merchan may decide what to do next with the case. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20.

He had been scheduled for sentencing late last month. But following Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president’s sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case.

Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds.

Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier.

He says they did not and denies any wrongdoing. Trump portrays the case as a political attack ginned up by D.A. Alvin Bragg and other Democrats.

A dismissal would erase Trump’s historic conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.

Merchan could also decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Trump leaves office, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court or choose some other option.

The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial.

Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases, which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all.

Michael R. Sisak And Jennifer Peltz, The Associated Press