George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Tuesday that the judge overseeing President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money case could count Trump’s upcoming presidency as community service.
Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, granted a request on Tuesday made by prosecutors and defense teams to pause all deadlines and the president-elect’s sentencing date in order to review the impact of Trump’s victory. Turley said the idea of imposing a delay on the case until after Trump’s presidency would not be a “welcome” idea, suggesting that the judge could instead count the presidency as community service or ensure there be no jail time.
“There’s gonna be some maneuvering going on as to what can be still reviewed,” Turley told Fox News. “In terms of leaving a case suspended for 4 years, it’s just a very odd way of addressing this. You know, the sentencing only create[s] a conflict with the president’s presidential duties if the judge sentences limitations on the president. He could’ve simply said ‘I’m not going to impose jail time or home confinement.’ He could even say that being president is equivalent to community service.”
“So there’s a lot of way that he could’ve handled this, so I think if we play this out a bit, we’re gonna have to see what the Trump lawyers do. I don’t know if they will welcome the idea that they’re just gonna keep this thing as a zombie case for 4 years,” Turley said.
A jury convicted Trump in late May on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged she had an affair with the now-president-elect in 2006. Merchan set the sentencing date to Nov. 26 in order for it to occur after the election, but the judge has now paused the case until Nov. 19.
