Deferred judgment on 'money to muzzle Trump's sex scandal'...Trump alleviates judicial risks

[Anchor]
The U.S. court has postponed the judgment of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's "money payment for sex scandals" by a week.

Amid the slim chance of a significant sentence, the U.S. Justice Department is closing cases before Trump's inauguration, which is expected to reduce judicial risks.

I'm correspondent Lee Seung-yoon from New York.

[Reporter]
In May, Trump faced a crisis after being accused of handing over $130,000 to a former adult film actor to prevent sexual exposure.

[Alvin Bragg / New York Manhattan District Attorney: Trump has been arraigned by the New York Supreme Court on 34 felony counts, including falsifying first-degree business records, in a Manhattan grand jury.]

The jury found all 34 charges guilty.

The court decided to delay a week in deciding whether to overturn it, maintain it and sentence it.

It considered Trump's request to invalidate the conviction and the prosecution's position that legal review of changes in the situation after the presidential election is needed.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice is considering ending the case of Trump's indictment on charges of taking out state secrets and attempting to overturn the results of his presidential election defeat before taking office.

They decided to keep the current president's non-prosecution policy.

Trump says criminal prosecution is a political repression and he will end the case immediately after taking office.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President-elect: This is an attack on a failing nation and an attack on a political opponent, run by an incompetent person involved in the incident]

As a result, Trump's side could demand the Justice Department dismiss the case after taking office, or Trump himself could attempt an unprecedented "self-pardon."

A case prosecutors in Georgia charged with pressuring Georgia to overturn the results of the 2020 election has been suspended after the investigative prosecutor and the chief prosecutor of Fulton County were found to have a private relationship.

Even if it resumes, Trump's side is expected to put forward immunity, so much of the judicial risk has been cleared.

The judgment of the Manhattan Criminal Court here in New York is expected to be made on the 19th in Eastern time, and legal experts believe it will be difficult to expect a meaningful sentence due to Trump's victory in the presidential election.

I'm YTN's Lee Seungyoon from New York.

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