Judge With Gavel (File) CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Tuesday that it is possible Judge Juan Merchan could imminently dismiss President
CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Tuesday that it is possible Judge Juan Merchan could imminently dismiss President-elect Donald Trump’s New York criminal case.
Merchan, on Nov. 12, granted a joint request by prosecutors and defense attorneys to pause all deadlines in the case until Tuesday, delaying his decision on Trump’s motion to toss the verdict based on presidential immunity. Honig, on “CNN News Central,” said that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has suggested that it agrees with Trump’s legal team that Merchan should close the case now that Trump has been elected president.
WATCH:
“So the first thing we‘re going to do is hear from the Manhattan DA. They’re going to take one of two tacks. Either they’re going to say, ‘We agree with Donald Trump that because he’s now the president-elect, this case is over.’ That‘s option one,” Honig said. “Option two is the Manhattan DA’s case may say, ‘We disagree with Donald Trump. Even though he is president-elect, we want to proceed forward.’ In that case, it’ll go to Judge Merchan. He’ll decide whether the case is over because Trump is president-elect or whether the case carries on.”
READ: Andy McCarthy, Jonathan Turley Say Judge Merchan Will Likely ‘Delay’ Trump Case Rather Than Drop It
“If it carries on, then Judge Merchan is going to decide the immunity ruling. And then, depending how that comes out, maybe proceed to sentencing. But there’s a lot of ifs there, the Manhattan DA signaled in its submission last week,” he added. “It sounded like they tended to view it the way that Donald Trump’s team views it, which is because he’s the president-elect, it’s now over. But we’ll see for sure today where the DA stands.”
CNN anchor John Berman asked Honig if the case “could be done by close of business” Tuesday.
“It could be. If the DA puts in a filing with the judge saying, ‘We agree with Donald Trump’s team because he’s president elect, this case is over.’ Then Judge Merchan will review that,” Honig answered. “If he agrees with both parties, he could say, ‘That’s it, case closed. We’re not getting to the immunity ruling. We’re not doing sentencing.’ That is a real possibility, John.”
READ: 18 Migrants From China And Ecuador Intercepted After Arriving In Florida By Boat
A jury convicted Trump in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Honig previously suggested that Merchan might vacate the verdict due to the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling as certain evidence in Trump’s trial potentially breached it.
“The problem, though, from the prosecutor’s point of view, is some of the evidence that they introduced at trial did relate to conversations Trump had while in the White House,” he said. “Hope Hicks was a key witness about conversations she had when she was communications director. The immunity decision came out after that trial, but it’s still the law of the land.”
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Android Users: Download our free app to stay up-to-date on the latest news.
Connect with us: Follow the Tampa Free Press on Facebook and Twitter for breaking news and updates.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
