New York:

A judge postponed on Tuesday Donald Trump’s sentencing following his conviction for covering up hush money payments until September 18 to allow time for a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity to be considered.

“The matter is adjourned to September 18, 2024, at 10 am for the imposition of sentence, if such is still necessary,” judge Juan Merchan said in a court filing.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Stormy Daniels, the adult film actor and director, has never been shy in her public battles with Donald Trump.

But ever since her starring role in the New York trial that made him the first former US president to be a felon, she’s not said a word.

It’s a relationship that could come from the pages of a bad novel — the playboy billionaire who wanted to be president and the porn actress who says they had a brief fling before she was sucked into illegal machinations intended to keep her quiet during an election.

A jury of 12 ordinary New Yorkers found Trump guilty on 34 counts of business fraud while attempting to cover up a hush money payment to Daniels on the eve of the tight 2016 election — which the Republican went on to win against Hillary Clinton.

After years of exchanging insults with Trump over social media, including during his four years in the White House, Stormy Daniels — whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — suddenly found she was the one with the power.

Her testimony, including graphic descriptions of what she says was a 2006 bout of casual sex, was crucial in the prosecution case, which needed to show that Trump was afraid any leak of the story would doom his campaign.

In the aftermath, though, the 45-year-old has kept uncharacteristically quiet.

Her husband Barrett Blade told CNN that “she’s still processing.”

He suggested there could be more to her silence.

“You know, all the MAGA idiots are going to be coming after her,” he said, referring to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.

In a bitterly divided country, those fears may not be far-fetched.

Daniels was wearing a bulletproof vest when she went to the New York courthouse, her lawyer Clark Brewster confirmed in an interview with a local ABC News channel.

“It’s so vicious and threatening and so I think from the standpoint of just the fear of what somebody might do,” he said of the atmosphere for Daniels.

“It was really fear.”

Asked if this apprehension has increased in the wake of the Trump guilty verdict, Brewster said: “That would be a logical conclusion.”

– ‘Weight on her shoulders’ –

Despite the emotional toll, Daniels feels “a little vindicated that you know, she was telling the truth,” Blade said.

He said Daniels had not sought to face Trump across the courtroom in a case brought by Manhattan prosecutors.

The end of the trial is a relief — “a big weight off her shoulders” — Blade said.

The stress, though, is hardly over.

“It brings another weight upon her shoulders of what happens next,” Blade said. “We take it day by day.”

Daniels is a self-made woman who rose from a difficult childhood and through the challenging world of adult movies to become a successful businesswoman.

But in a recent documentary, she revealed that behind her outwardly tough, humorous persona on social media, she has been hurt by the constant insults from Trump and his supporters.

“Back in 2018 that was stuff like ‘liar,’ ‘slut,’ ‘gold digger,” she said in the film, “Stormy.”

“This time around, it is very different. It is direct threats, it is, ‘I’m going to come to your house and slit your throat,’ ‘your daughter should be euthanized.'”

By contrast, the other main prosecution witness in the trial, Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen, has been eagerly telling his story in the wake of the trial.

The disgraced lawyer, who testified that he was at the heart of the former president’s scheme to silence Daniels, has appeared on MSNBC and other major media.

“It was emotionally draining,” Cohen told ABC News, adding that he was glad to have gone through the ordeal.

“I want people to also remember, I take responsibility for what I did,” he said. “I accepted it and in part went to prison for it.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New York:

After approximately five weeks, 19 witnesses, reams of documents and a dash of salacious testimony, the prosecution against Donald Trump rested its case Monday, handing over to the defense before closing arguments expected next week.

Trump’s team immediately sought to undermine key testimony against the former president, who is accused of covering up hush money paid to a porn star over an alleged encounter that could have derailed his successful 2016 White House bid.

His attorneys called lawyer Robert Costello — who once advised star prosecution witness Michael Cohen before falling out with him — in an apparent attempt to puncture Cohen’s credibility.

But Costello’s start on the stand was shaky at best, as his dismissive tone provoked an angry response from Judge Juan Merchan.

The judge ordered the jury out of the courtroom to admonish Costello, and, still unsatisfied, also ordered the press and others to briefly leave.

Trump, speaking to reporters afterward, called the episode “an incredible display,” branding the proceedings “a show trial” and the judge “a tyrant.”

Extended quibbling among the two legal teams, along with the upcoming holiday weekend, means closing arguments that the judge had hoped could start Tuesday are now anticipated for next week.

It’s unlikely and risky, but the door remains open for Trump to take the stand in the criminal trial, the first ever of a former US president.

Experts doubt he will, as it would expose him to unnecessary legal jeopardy and forensic cross-examination by prosecutors — but his lawyer Todd Blanche has raised the prospect.

– Marathon questioning –

On Monday, Blanche finished his third day of questioning Cohen after hours of at times digressive, at other times bruising, exchanges.

Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, recounted last week how he kept Trump informed about $130,000 paid to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump’s lawyers set out to paint Cohen as a convicted criminal and habitual liar, recalling his time in prison for tax fraud and lying to Congress.

Blanche also probed Cohen’s loyalty to Trump and then to the prosecution, looking to show jurors that Cohen is self-serving and willing to go to great lengths to accomplish his aims.

Blanche vied to goad Cohen, who has a reputation for a short temper that could have hurt him on the stand — but the witness largely maintained his composure.

Cohen’s story generally lined up with Daniels and David Pecker, the tabloid boss who said he worked with Trump and Cohen to suppress negative coverage during the Republican’s White House run.

After Blanche finished with him, the prosecution returned for redirect, with prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asking Cohen what the whole experience has meant for him.

“My entire life has been turned upside down,” Cohen said, genuine emotion in his voice. “I lost my law license, my financial security… my family’s happiness… just to name a few.”

– Trump 2024 –

Trump meanwhile has complained his 2024 election campaign for another White House term is being stymied by the weeks-long court proceedings, which he has to attend every day.

He did so again Monday, complaining to journalists he’s “not allowed to have anything to do with politics because I’m sitting in a very freezing cold, dark room for the last four weeks. It’s very unfair.”

Calling the case politicized, a coterie of leading Republicans have stood in the wings behind him as he gives remarks to reporters outside the courtroom.

The growing list includes several lawmakers eyeing Trump’s vice presidential pick, including Ohio Senator JD Vance and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

Yet despite the palace intrigue and courtroom drama, the charges ultimately hinge on financial records, and whether falsifying them was done with intent to sway the 2016 presidential vote.

When the jury begins deliberating, the often juicy testimony will likely linger, but they will also have stacks of documents to consider.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New York:

Donald Trump’s legal battles pinballed from victory to defeat Monday as he was offered a lifeline in his struggle to stave off a half billion dollar fraud judgement while a New York judge rejected efforts to delay a separate criminal trial.

A New York state appeals court slashed a potentially crippling $454 million bond payment due on Monday to $175 million and gave the former president 10 extra days to pay.

The Republican presidential candidate got the unexpectedly positive news about his New York civil fraud case while he was sitting in court for another case — a hearing in his upcoming criminal trial over paying hush money to a porn star. 

Judge Juan Merchan rejected demands from Trump’s lawyers to delay the first ever criminal trial of a former president for at least 90 days and ordered jury selection to begin on April 15.

Trump faces charges of falsifying business records for the payments made on the eve of the 2016 presidential election to make sure porn star Stormy Daniels did not publicize a sexual encounter.

“You are literally accusing the Manhattan (District Attorney’s) office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct and trying to make me complicit in it,” a visibly exasperated Merchan told Trump’s attorneys during the hearing in a Manhattan courtroom.

Trump had also been facing a Monday deadline to pay the huge original bond pending an appeal against a judge’s decision that he is liable for fraudulently conspiring to inflate his net worth.

Trump made clear he was unable to find the $454 million and he risked seeing New York state confiscate parts of his property empire if he failed to come up with the bond.

– ‘Rigged cases’ –

The 77-year-old Trump welcomed the appellate panel ruling while denouncing the hush money case as “election interference” and a “witch hunt.”

“I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division and I will post $175 million in cash and bonds or security or whatever is necessary, very quickly, within the 10 days,” he told reporters.

The hush money trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday but was delayed because thousands of pages of potential evidence were belatedly produced by prosecutors.

On Truth Social, Trump denounced both cases as a politically motivated attack ahead of the November 5 presidential election when he will likely again face incumbent Democrat Joe Biden.

“These are Rigged cases, all coordinated by the White House and DOJ for purposes of Election Interference,” Trump wrote. “No crime. Our Country is CORRUPT!”

Trump regularly rails against a judicial system he claims is “fixed” against him.

He has said that New York Attorney General Letitia James — who is Black — is “racist,” and accused Judge Arthur Engeron in the civil fraud case of being “crooked.”

Trump got some positive financial news last week when it was announced that Truth Social would finally go public through a merger, a transaction that could net him billions of dollars.

He cannot tap into the funds for six months, but it potentially could help him secure the bond.

However, in case of non-payment, James could still order a freeze on his bank accounts, or move to seize some of his New York properties.

– Seeking more delays –

Trump’s lawyers have pursued every avenue to delay his many trials — if possible until after the presidential vote.

In the trial involving Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, Trump is accused of illegally using campaign funds to secure her silence about an alleged sexual encounter back in 2006.

If she’d spoken out, the fallout could have been ruinous for Trump’s presidential hopes, coming right on the heels of another scandal over the married businessman’s boasting, caught on tape, that as a celebrity he was freely able to “grab” women by their genitals.

Trump also faces charges of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election and for holding on to classified documents after leaving the White House.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)