Trump seeks to delay criminal sentencing until after election

Former President Trump asked the New York judge who oversaw his recent criminal trial to delay his sentencing until after November’s presidential election. 

Judge Juan Merchan previously agreed to push the date back until September so he can first decide whether the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision requires tossing Trump’s guilty verdict. 

“[S]etting aside naked election-interference objectives, there is no valid countervailing reason for the Court to keep the current sentencing date on the calendar,” Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in a letter to the judge, which was made public Thursday. 

“There is no basis for continuing to rush,” the letter continued. “Accordingly, we respectfully request that any sentencing, if one is needed, be adjourned until after the Presidential election.” 

In May, a New York jury convicted Trump on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from voters.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) accused Trump of disguising reimbursements to his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, after he paid porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 just before the 2016 presidential election to stay quiet about her alleged affair with Trump. Trump denies any affair or any wrongdoing with the payments and has vowed to appeal. 

Trump has repeatedly sought to delay the hush money case and his three other criminal proceedings — which have not yet gone to trial — as he hopes to first win this year’s presidential election and grind his indictments to a halt upon retaking the White House. 

Bragg’s office declined to comment on the new letter. 

Trump’s sentencing in New York was originally slated for July, but the judge pushed it back to Sept. 18 after the Supreme Court carved out at least presumptive criminal immunity for former presidents’ official acts. 

Trump does not claim immunity from the hush money charges themselves, but he asserts that prosecutors at trial improperly introduced immunized evidence, so his verdict must be wiped as a result. Prosecutors have pushed back on the argument, and Merchan is set to rule on the matter two days before sentencing.

Trump’s attorneys said the small gap is an “unreasonably short period of time,” signaling the former president will immediately attempt to appeal if the judge rejects his immunity arguments.

“The requested adjournment is also necessary to allow President Trump adequate time to assess and pursue state and federal appellate options in response to adverse ruling,” the letter reads.

The letter also noted Merchan’s third refusal to recuse from the case Wednesday. Trump’s lawyers have latched onto the judge’s daughter’s employment at a digital agency that does work for prominent Democrats, but the judge has insisted he has no conflict, citing guidance from a state ethics advisory group. 

“Notwithstanding the Court’s ruling on the disputed recusal issue, the requested adjournment would prospectively mitigate the asserted conflicts and appearances of impropriety, which are also the subject of an ongoing congressional inquiry,” Blanche and Bove wrote in the letter.