Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in May after a jury found that Trump fraudulently altered business records to hide an alleged sexual relationship he had with a porn star before the 2016 election.

Trump, who is expected to be sentenced to prison on November 26, may receive a postponement if Judge Juan Merchan decides to dismiss the case following the Supreme Court’s recent decision on presidential immunity.

In this landmark decision, the court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, ruled that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for a range of official acts taken while in office.

Before the election, Trump’s lawyers moved to dismiss the case in light of the Supreme Court’s decision, but prosecutors flatly rejected the move.

If Merchan withdraws the case on this basis, 78-year-old Trump will not be sentenced.

Otherwise, Trump’s legal team will almost certainly seek to oppose or delay any sentencing, insisting it would interfere with Trump’s role as commander in chief after he is sworn in on Jan. 20.

-‘A severe blow’-

An editorial in the Kansas City Star called for the judge in the case to “do the once unthinkable — force the president-elect to take the oath of office in his prison cell.”

“This surreal scene, while certainly shocking for the rest of the free world to witness, will send an unmistakable message: the rule of law still applies in America.”

But Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, said both the New York case and others around the country were “clearly brought for political purposes (and) have now been extensively published and dismissed in the court of public opinion.”

“Further maneuvering on these cases in the coming weeks will serve no legitimate purpose and will only distract the country and the incoming administration from the task at hand,” he wrote.

Trump has repeatedly called the case a witch hunt and said the case “rightfully should be brought to an end.”

In addition to the New York case filed by state-level prosecutors, Trump faces two active federal lawsuits, one related to his effort to overturn the 2020 election and the other linked to secret documents he allegedly mishandled after leaving office.

However, as president, he can intervene to end these cases, and it is reported that special counsel Jack Smith, who is handling both cases, has also started to end the cases.

A Trump-appointed federal judge had already thrown out the documents case, but Smith had sought to appeal that decision.

“Trump’s victory means he is unlikely to be held accountable for any of his alleged criminal misconduct,” former prosecutor Randall Eliason wrote in an article on Substack.

“This is a severe blow to the ideal of the rule of law.”

The New York conviction, which came just months before an election that Trump convincingly won, was one of the dramatic upsets in the unprecedented race.

In July, Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania with a bullet that grazed his ear.

Later that month, President Joe Biden stepped aside as the Democratic Party’s nominee after his disastrous performance against Trump in a televised debate.

This paved the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the first black woman to be nominated by a major US party.

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