NY judge grants Trump request to file motion to dismiss charges, cancels sentencing indefinitely

Trump spokesman labels ruling as a 'decisive win' for president-elect.

Judge Juan Merchan on Friday granted President-elect Donald Trump's request to file a motion to dismiss the charges in New York v. Trump and removed the sentencing date for the president-elect from the schedule.

Merchan said Trump attorneys have until Dec. 2 to file their motion for dismissal. Merchan said Bragg has until Dec. 9 to respond.

Merchan also confirmed the stay in sentencing for Trump, which was requested by both Trump's and Bragg's attorneys. The sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 26, but on Friday, Merchan said that date "is adjourned."

Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung reacted to Merchan's ruling Friday, telling Fox News Digital it is a "decisive win" for the president.

"In a decisive win for President Trump, the hoax Manhattan Case is now fully stayed and sentencing is adjourned," Cheung told Fox News Digital. "President Trump won a landslide victory as the American People have issued a mandate to return him to office and dispose of all remnants of the Witch Hunt cases."

Cheung added, "All of the sham lawfare attacks against President Trump are now destroyed and we are focused on Making America Great Again."

In a letter to Merchan on Wednesday, Trump defense attorney and now-nominee for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche demanded the case against Trump be tossed.

"On November 5, 2024, the Nation’s People issued a mandate that supersedes the political motivations of DANY’s ‘People,’" Blanche wrote. "This case must be immediately dismissed."

Blanche said that "immediate dismissal of this case is mandated by the federal Constitution, the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and the interests of justice, in order to facilitate the orderly transition of Executive power following President Trump’s overwhelming victory in the 2024 Presidential Election."