Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig wrote on Friday in an opinion article that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg—who brought the criminal hush money case against President-elect Donald Trump earlier this year—"poisoned the well" for other Trump cases.
Trump, who was found guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election, was initially set to be sentenced on July 11. However, presiding judge Juan Merchan agreed to postpone the sentencing until after the November 5 election, and was expected to deliver the sentence on November 26.
However, Merchan on Friday postponed Trump's sentencing indefinitely.
Trump, meanwhile, denies Daniels' allegations that the two had a sexual encounter in 2006 and has maintained his innocence, calling the case politically motivated.
"The problem is not only that Bragg charged his case—which was plainly the least serious of the four indictments, even if we assume that it was legally valid—but that it was the first to be indicted and the only one tried. He poisoned the well for everything that followed. If you have four arguments and you lead with the worst one, you're sabotaging your own cause," Honig, a senior CNN legal analyst, wrote in a New York Magazine article.
Honig also wrote that Trump's hush money case is now moving to its "final resting place—back on the same scrap heap it came from."
Newsweek has reached out to Bragg's office for comment via email on Saturday.
In his Friday order, Merchan did not announce a new sentencing date. He gave Trump's legal team until December 2 to file an argument for dismissal in light of Trump's election victory, while prosecutors will have one week to respond.
Merchan also delayed his decision on another argument from Trump's team that the case should be dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity. He was originally supposed to decide on those motions by November 19.
Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, said in a statement emailed to Newsweek on Friday, "In a decisive win for President Trump, the hoax Manhattan Case is now fully stayed and sentencing is adjourned. 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. All of the sham lawfare attacks against President Trump are now destroyed and we are focused on Making America Great Again."
Outside of this case, Trump has three other indictments: a federal classified documents case in Florida, which was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon this summer on grounds that Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith was not properly appointed, a federal indictment related to alleged 2020 election interference, and a state indictment in Georgia also tied to alleged 2020 election interference. The president-elect maintains his innocence in those cases as well.
Smith is reportedly planning to step down after Trump's inauguration and has begun winding down the federal cases he oversees. Trump has publicly vowed to fire Smith within "two seconds" of being sworn in, and according to The Washington Post, he plans to fire Smith's entire team.
In his Friday opinion article, Honig, who discloses he is a friend and former colleague of Bragg, wrote: "It's over now; Bragg's case will never reach a conclusion, and Trump is headed back to the White House. He's not getting sentenced now or in 2029. The DA has done enough damage. It's time to let it go."
Trump is expected to serve in office until January 2029, and in a court filing this week Bragg's office suggested consideration of "non-dismissal options" such as "deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of Defendant's upcoming presidential term," meaning the office may still want to prosecute Trump upon completion of his presidential term.
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