The United States recently made history by electing a convicted felon for the first time as its Commander-in-chief. Donald Trump will be officially returning to the White House after being found guilty in May of committing 34 felonies related to a hush-money deal he made with adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Although Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts by 12 fellow New Yorkers, that does not mean Judge Juan Merchan will throw the book at him and, at this point, who knows whether the 45th (and recently elected 47th) President of the United States will even receive a slap on the wrist. After multiple postponements, the sentencing hearing had been scheduled for Nov. 26, a date that benefited the Republican nominee because it would take place after Election Day.
Now that he’s emerged from the race victorious, the multiple cases against President-elect Trump seem to be falling apart. A mere few days after the election results were known, Special Counsel Jack Smith requested district Judge Tanya Chutkan halt all deadlines regarding the Jan. 6 mutiny case against Trump. In addition, his state-level case in Georgia, wherein 19 people were charged with an illegal conspiracy to maintain Trump in power, is now expected to be delayed until 2029, after he leaves office.
Now, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, Judge Merchan agreed to pause the deadlines in the colloquially known as the “hush-money trial,” which was really about the deliberate falsification of business records in order to influence 2016 election results.
Is Donald Trump’s New York conviction going to be overturned?
We still don’t know the answer to this question – we should soon – but we can speculate.
On the prosecution and Donald Trump’s defense lawyers’ joint initiative, Judge Juan Merchan gave both sides until Nov. 19 to decide on how they wish to proceed, now that the convicted individual will be sworn in as the nation’s President (again) in January.
In early July, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could enjoy immunity from federal prosecution for all official acts. That said, the Supreme Court did not extend broad immunity to each and every one of Trump’s presumptively criminal actions in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.
Originally, Trump was to be sentenced on July 10, following the late May verdict. However, after the aforementioned Supreme Court ruling, Trump’s counsel prompted Judge Merchant to postpone the legal proceeding until September 18. However, September came, and the Judge delayed the verdict hearing yet again this time to Nov. 26 – notably, after the election. This may have been Merchan’s way to avoid fostering an appearance of partisanship, which he has been accused of in the past by the defendant himself and other members of the GOP.
His conviction in the court of law was never an issue – clearly – for some of his supporters, it was even an odd reason for pride, judging by the heaps of “I’m voting for the felon” merchandise out there. But now more than ever, it seems like whether in the court of law, or of public opinion, being found guilty of certain pernicious and condemnable acts matters little in the public perception of those who’ve grown to worship you.
In 2016, after the Access Hollywood tape came to light, people closed their eyes, among other things, to how Trump talked about women in the most degrading fashion. In 2024, some people were willing to keep their eyes perpetually shut in the hopes that the vision of an ideal America would materialize as Trump promised. This, as well as whether Trump’s sentencing for his 34 criminal counts will be overturned or made inconsequential, remains to be seen.