Trump hush money case faces potential delay

New York prosecutors who secured the first-ever criminal conviction of a former president said the hush money case against Donald Trump should not be dismissed in light of his election victory.

Seventy-eight-year-old Trump had been scheduled to be sentenced on November 26, but Justice Juan Merchan last week put all proceedings on hold at the request of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

And prosecutors raised the possibility of a four-year pause in proceedings, which could resume after Trump leaves the White House.

In May, a jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

The money was meant to buy her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump.

Trump denies the affair, and pleads not guilty at trial. He claimed the prosecution was politically motivated.

Trump's lawyers urged Merchan to dismiss the case, arguing that having it loom over Trump while he was president would cause what they called "unconstitutional impediments" to his ability to govern.

His lawyers also argued his conviction should be vacated and the charges dismissed because of a U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in July.

The justices decided presidents cannot be prosecuted over their official acts, and that evidence of their official acts cannot be used in trials over personal behavior.

Bragg's office said that its case dealt with purely personal conduct.

Falsification of business records is punishable by up to four years in prison.

Before he was elected, experts said it was unlikely - but not impossible - that Trump would facetime behind bars.

Trump's victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election made the prospect of imposing a jail sentence politically fraught and impractical.