Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Andy McCarthy, Jonathan Turley Say Judge Merchan Will Likely ‘Delay’ Trump Case Rather Than Drop It

Fox News panel [Screenshot/Fox News]

Fox News’ legal analysts Andy McCarthy and Jonathan Turley predicted Tuesday that Judge Juan Merchan will “delay” rather than drop the Manhattan case against President-elect Donald Trump.

Manhattan prosecutors face a Tuesday deadline to tell Merchan how they want to proceed with sentencing Trump after a jury convicted him in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records to keep a $130,000 payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels undisclosed. McCarthy and Turley said the case will likely be delayed until after Trump’s presidency rather than completely dropping the case.

“I think they’re going to delay, I’d be surprised if at this point, [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg dismissed the case … I think the difference here compared to some of the other cases is that Bragg feels like he didn’t lose, he feels like he won the case at trial,” McCarthy said. “So it would be difficult for him to swallow hard and dismiss it at this point. But he still hasn’t completely won because important things haven’t happened here yet, there hasn’t been a sentencing, there hasn’t been a judgement or sentencing, and he doesn’t have a clear path to get there because even if Judge Merchan rules his way on immunity, you’re looking at a long appeal.”

Turley said he does not expect that the judge will drop the case since a jury had already convicted Trump in the trial, though he argued that delaying the case until after the 2024 election is not a good idea for the country.  

“The federal cases are shutting down, Georgia’s going nowhere, and yet you have Judge Merchan here and many people feel he’s continuing this long after the attractions were put back in their cases and their audience has left,” Turley said. “And so, there would be a great sigh of relief. I just don’t expect it. I think that the judge will view this as a verdict by this jury that’s he’s not just gonna set aside. I don’t think that holding this in abeyance for 4 years is a good option. You cannot have a president who [has a] pending sentencing for 4 years in my view.”

Turley added that Trump is more likely to pay a fine than to serve jail time in relation to his conviction. McCarthy further suggested that Trump’s legal team believes the case is headed in their direction whether it is dropped or delayed for four years.

Special counsel Jack Smith communicated with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop the two cases he brought against Trump following the election. He charged Trump with over 30 counts for allegedly storing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and pressed four charges against the now-president-elect for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election on January 6, 2021.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump with 18 counts in August 2023 under Georgia’s “Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations” (RICO) Act for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. The Georgia Court of Appeals put the case on hold in June over a pending case deciding whether to disqualify Willis over an alleged undisclosed relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

The appeals court canceled oral arguments Monday evening scheduled for Dec. 5 concerning the disqualification of Willis, leaving the entire case on hold.