New York – A judge has postponed a decision on whether to overturn President-elect Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money case, after his lawyers asked to freeze and ultimately dismiss the case so he can govern the country.

New York Judge Juan M. Merchán was due to rule Tuesday on his earlier request to overturn his conviction because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this summer on presidential immunity. Instead, he told Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday that he would delay the ruling until Nov. 19.

According to emails filed with the court, Trump’s lawyer, Emil Bove, requested the delay over the weekend, arguing that suspending the case (and then ending it entirely) is “necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to the Trump’s ability to govern.” President Trump.”

Prosecutors accepted the delay.

Trump took back the White House a week ago, but the legal issue concerns the Republican’s status as a former president, not an imminent president.

A jury convicted Trump in May of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016. The payment was to buy her silence about claims that she had sexual relations with Trump.

He says they didn’t, denies any wrongdoing and maintains the prosecution was a political tactic intended to damage his latest campaign.

Just over a month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents cannot be prosecuted for actions they took while governing the country, and prosecutors cannot cite those actions even to bolster a case focused on purely political issues. personal. conduct.

Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue that the seized jury got some evidence it shouldn’t have, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form and testimony from some White House aides.

Prosecutors disagreed, saying the evidence in question was only “a portion” of their case.

Trump’s criminal conviction was the first for any former president. It left the 78-year-old facing the possibility of punishments ranging from a fine or probation to four years in prison.

The case centered on how Trump justified reimbursing his personal attorney for the payment to Daniels.

The lawyer, Michael Cohen, advanced the money. He later recovered it through a series of payments that Trump’s company recorded as legal expenses. Trump, by then in the White House, signed most of the checks himself.

Prosecutors said the designation was intended to conceal the true purpose of the payments and help cover up a broader effort to prevent voters from hearing unflattering statements about the Republican during his first campaign.

Trump said Cohen was legitimately paid for his legal services and that Daniels’ story was suppressed to avoid embarrassing Trump’s family, not to influence the electorate.

Trump was a private citizen (he was campaigning for president, but was not elected or sworn in) when Cohen paid Daniels in October 2016. He was president when Cohen received the refund, and Cohen testified that they discussed the payment arrangement in the Oval Office. .

Trump has been fighting for months to overturn the verdict and could now try to take advantage of his status as president-elect. Although he was tried as a private citizen, his upcoming return to the White House could prompt a court to intervene and avoid the unprecedented spectacle of sentencing a former and future president.

While urging Merchan to reject the conviction, Trump has also been trying to take the case to federal court. Before the election, a federal judge repeatedly said no to the measure, but Trump appealed.