NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday told the judge presiding over President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case they concede he may need to consider pushing back sentencing until Trump is out of office — but they plan to fight Trump’s renewed efforts to get the verdict tossed. In a court filing, prosecutors asked state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to set a schedule to consider Trump’s expected new motion to dismiss the case, including a Dec. 9 deadline for them to respond.
In light of Trump’s election victory, they said several factors needed to be considered, “such as deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of Defendant’s upcoming presidential term,” in 2029. “The People deeply respect the Office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency, and acknowledge that Defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions,” prosecutors wrote. “We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system.
” Lawyers for Trump, who succeeded at getting his sentencing pushed back twice in the months before the election, asked prosecutors the week before last to agree to delay proceedings and consider moving to drop the case since Trump had been reelected. Merchan granted a joint application from both sides to delay all deadlines in the case, which included his decision on Trump’s outstanding motion to throw out the case based on the Supre.
