Former President Donald Trump, with defense attorney Todd Blanche, speaks at the end of that day’s proceedings at his trial in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, Pool)

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has delayed a decision on whether to overturn President-elect Donald Trump’s secret money conviction as prosecutors consider how to proceed in light of last week’s election and his lawyers argue for his ouster so he can govern.

The postponement announced Tuesday comes at a dramatic and dynamic point in the New York case that focused on how Trump accounted for payments made to a porn actor before the 2016 election and led to the first conviction of a former commander in chief.

Sentencing was set for November 26. But Manhattan prosecutors now say they are reevaluating and appear open to the possibility that the trial may not proceed as planned.

“These are unprecedented circumstances.” Deputy District Attorney Matthew Colangelo wrote in an email to the court. He said prosecutors need to consider how to strike the balance. “competing interests” Jury verdict and presidency.

Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove argued that the case should be dropped completely “To prevent unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern.”

The messages were shared over the weekend and released Tuesday after Judge Juan M. Merchan ruled on an earlier request by Trump lawyers to vacate his conviction for a different reason — because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this summer on the president’s immunity.

Instead, Merchan told Trump’s lawyers he would halt the hearings and delay the decision until at least Nov. 19 so prosecutors could propose a path forward. Both sides agreed to postpone for one week.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung heralded the delay. He said in a statement that the president-elect’s win made that happen. “It is clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, including this case that should never have been brought.”

Prosecutors declined to comment.

A jury found Trump guilty in May of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016. The payoff was to buy her silence about allegations that she had sex with Trump.

Trump says the pair did not have sex, denies any wrongdoing and argues the investigation is a political tactic aimed at hurting his latest campaign. Trump is a Republican. Like Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office brought the case, is a Democrat.

Just a month after the decision, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents cannot be tried for actions they took while ruling the country, and prosecutors cannot cite those actions even to support a case focused entirely on personal matters. to manage.

Trump’s lawyers argued that the ruling was because the hush-money jury claimed it had some evidence it shouldn’t have, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form and the statements of some White House aides.

Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a strip” their case.

Trump’s criminal conviction was a first for any former president. This left the 78-year-old facing a fine, probation or up to four years in prison.

The case centered on how Trump disclosed that he reimbursed a personal attorney for Daniels’ payment.

Then-lawyer Michael Cohen prioritized money. He later recouped this with a series of payments that Trump’s company recorded as legal expenses. Trump signed most of the checks himself while he was in the White House at the time.

Prosecutors said the designation was meant to conceal the true purpose of the payments and help cover up a broader effort to prevent voters from hearing unflattering claims about Trump during his primary campaign.

Trump said Cohen was legally paid for his legal services and that Daniels’ story was suppressed not to influence voters but to avoid embarrassing Trump’s family.

When Cohen paid Daniels in October 2016, Trump was a private citizen campaigning for president. Trump was president when Cohen was reimbursed, and Cohen testified that they discussed the reimbursement arrangement in the Oval Office.

Trump has been fighting for months to overturn the decision. The president-elect is calling on Merchan to overturn his conviction while also trying to move the case to federal court. A federal judge had repeatedly said no to the move before the election, but Trump objected.

Trump faces three other unrelated charges in various jurisdictions.

But Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is considering how to end both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case against Trump before Trump takes office, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The Justice Department’s long-standing policy says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, with the election interference lawsuit against Trump in Georgia largely on hold, he and other defendants are appealing the judge’s decision to allow Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to proceed with the case.