New York Judge Adds Ruling Dates in Trump’s Criminal Case

(Left) Judge Juan M. Merchan on March 14, 2024. (Right) Former President Donald Trump on April 26, 2024. (Seth Wenig/AP Photo; Dave Sanders/Pool via Getty Images)

The New York judge who is overseeing former President Donald Trump’s criminal case on Monday wrote that a Sept. 18 sentencing hearing for the former president will remain intact but made several scheduling decisions.

In a letter to Trump’s legal team and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, Judge Juan Merchan wrote that he will rule on the former president’s motion for the judge to recuse himself in the case on Monday, Aug. 11. So far, previous motions have been struck down by the judge and a state appeals court.

Merchan also told the parties that he will decide by Sept. 16 on a request submitted last week by Trump’s attorneys that certain social media posts made by the former president cited as evidence by prosecutors in the case should be covered by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling finding that former presidents should enjoy immunity for their official acts.

“Please note, the court appearance scheduled for September 18, 2024, at 10 A.M. remains unchanged,” the judge concluded. “We will proceed on that date and time to the imposition of sentence or other proceedings as appropriate. Please keep these dates in mind if you still wish to file a pre-sentence recommendation.”

In late May, Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to payments that he authorized toward the end of his 2016 campaign for president. Prosecutors said that he directed his former lawyer Michael Cohen to make those payments to adult film performer Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to remain quiet about claims of an affair.

Both Daniels and Cohen were called to testify during the trial as Trump was under a gag order that was imposed by the judge. On multiple occasions, the former president’s attorneys also filed court papers seeking to rescind the gag order during the trial. In late June, Merchan’s order was partially lifted, allowing Trump to comment on witnesses who spoke about him during the trial

The former president has denied the affair took place and had pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying they were politically motivated to harm his 2024 presidential candidacy. His attorneys have said that he intends to appeal the jury’s verdict.

Other Cases

Also Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid by Missouri’s Republican attorney general to block the gag order and sentencing of the former president. In court papers, the attorney general’s office argued that New York harmed the rights of Missouri voters and electors to hear from presidential candidates by bringing the case against the former president.

The court did not provide a reason for denying the petition in a brief, unsigned order. However, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito indicated that they would have granted the motion for leave to file the bill of complaint.

New York Attorney General Letitia James had opposed the move, arguing that Missouri lacked legal standing to bring the case.

It means that Trump still cannot speak about prosecutors, court staff, or members of their family under the gag order.

Trump faces cases in several other jurisdictions, although two of them are stalled. He’s pleaded not guilty in those cases, too.

Last month, a Florida federal judge dismissed a federal classified documents case against the former president on grounds that the special counsel who brought the charges, Jack Smith, was not appointed lawfully by the Department of Justice.

In Georgia, meanwhile, the state’s court of appeals agreed to take up Trump’s and his co-defendant’s petition to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis until after the November election. Willis’s office had accused the former president and more than a dozen others of election interference and related charges.

This week, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing a separate Smith case against Trump in Washington, set a hearing for Aug. 16 and denied a Trump motion to dismiss the case on statutory grounds. That case, which also accuses Trump of election crimes, was put on hold for months while it was being appealed.