Former President Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case was postponed until at least September after a ruling was handed down Tuesday to assess the possible effect of a new Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
Trump will be sentenced on July 11 following his conviction in New York for the crime of falsifying business records. He denies any wrongdoing.
The postponement sets the sentencing date for Sept. 18 at the earliest, if that happens, as Trump’s lawyers argue that the Supreme Court’s ruling only merits delaying sentencing, but also overturning his conviction.
The new date comes well after this month’s Republican National Convention, where Trump is expected to officially settle on the party’s nomination for president for this year’s race.
September, however, is much closer to Election Day, which may put this factor on the minds of more sensible voters just as they are seriously preparing for the race.
There was no immediate comment from the Trump campaign or the Manhattan prosecutors who brought the case.
The heist caps a string of political and legal victories Trump has won in recent days, the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and a debate widely seen as a crisis for Democratic President Biden.
The immunity ruling still closed the door on the option that Trump could stand trial in his 2020 election interference case in Washington before next November’s vote. The timing itself is a victory for the former president, who has sought to delay his 4 criminal cases beyond the ballot box.
An appeals court stayed a separate election interference case opposed to Trump in Georgia; No trial date has been set. His case over federal classified documents in Florida remains stalled by pretrial disputes that have resulted in the indefinite cancellation of the trial date.
Monday’s Supreme Court ruling granted broad immunity to presidents, while prohibiting prosecutors from presenting official acts as evidence to prove that a president’s unofficial movements violated the law.
Hours after its publication, Trump’s lawyer asked New York Judge Juan M. Merchán to overturn the jury’s guilty verdict and delay sentencing to take into consideration how the High Court’s ruling might affect the hush money case.
Merchan wrote that he would rule on Sept. 6 and that the next date in the case would be Sept. 18, “if necessary. “
In their filing Monday, defense attorneys argued that Manhattan prosecutors had placed “a very damaging emphasis on evidence of official acts,” Trump’s social media posts and testimony about the Oval Office meetings.
Prosecutors said Tuesday before sentencing that they believed those arguments were “without merit” but would not object to postponing sentencing for two weeks while the sentencing reviews the case.
Trump was found guilty on May 30 of 34 counts of tampering with business records stemming from what prosecutors said was an attempt to conceal a secret $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
Daniels claims she had sex with Trump in 2006 after meeting him at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. Trump has continually denied this claim, saying in his June 27 debate with Biden, “I haven’t slept with a porn star. “
Prosecutors said the payment to Daniels was part of a broader plan to buy the silence of others who likely would have gone public with the campaign with embarrassing stories alleging Trump had extramarital sex. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels and later received a refund through Trump. , whose company recorded the refunds as legal fees.
Forgery of business documents is punishable by up to 4 years in prison. Other possible consequences include probation, fine or probation that would require Trump to have no problem receiving a greater punishment. Trump is the first former president convicted of a crime.
Offenhartz and Peltz write for the Associated Press. AP Michael R. Sisak of Fort Pierce, Florida, contributed to this report.
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