Trump requests sentencing delay in hush money case until after election

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is requesting the judge in his New York hush money criminal case to postpone his sentencing until after the November presidential election.

In a letter disclosed publicly Thursday, attorneys for the former president and current Republican nominee suggested that holding Trump’s sentencing as planned on Sept. 18 — approximately seven weeks before Election Day — would constitute election interference.

Trump’s legal team argued that a delay would give Trump time to consider his next steps after the trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, is anticipated to decide on Sept. 16 on the defense’s motion to overturn the verdict and dismiss the case based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s July presidential immunity ruling.

“There is no justification for rushing forward,” Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove stated.

Blanche and Bove sent the letter to Merchan on Wednesday after the judge turned down the defense’s latest request for recusal from the case.

In the letter, Blanche and Bove reiterated the defense’s argument that the judge has a conflict of interest because his daughter is employed as a Democratic political consultant, including for Kamala Harris during her 2020 presidential nomination bid. Harris is now running against Trump.

By postponing the sentencing until after the election, “the Court would decrease, if not eliminate, concerns regarding the integrity of any future proceedings,” the attorneys asserted.

Election Day is on November 5, but many states allow early voting, with some beginning just before or after Trump’s scheduled Sept. 18 sentencing.

Merchan, who has expressed confidence in his ability to remain fair and impartial, did not immediately make a ruling on the delay request.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted Trump’s case, declined to provide a comment.

Trump was convicted in May of falsifying his business records to hide a 2016 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged 2006 encounter with him. Prosecutors presented the payment as part of an effort by Trump to prevent voters from learning scandalous stories about him during his initial campaign.

Trump maintains that all the allegations were false, the business records were accurate, and the case was a political tactic aimed at harming his current campaign. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a Democrat.

Trump’s defense contended that the payments were legitimately for legal services and were accurately categorized.

Falsifying business records carries a penalty of up to four years in prison. Other possible sentences include probation, a fine, or a conditional release that would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid further repercussions. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime.

Trump has vowed to appeal, but that cannot happen until after he is sentenced.

In a prior correspondence, Merchan set Sept. 18 for “the imposition of sentence or other proceedings as appropriate.”

Blanche and Bove contended in their letter requesting a postponement that the swift transition from the scheduled immunity ruling on Sept. 16 to sentencing two days later is unfair to Trump.

To prepare for sentencing, the lawyers explained, prosecutors will be submitting their recommendation for punishment while Merchan is still deliberating on whether to dismiss the case based on immunity grounds. If Merchan rules against Trump on the dismissal request, he will need “adequate time to assess and pursue state and federal appellate options,” they asserted.

The Supreme Court’s immunity decision limits the prosecution of ex-presidents for official acts and restricts prosecutors from using official acts as proof that a president’s unofficial actions were illegal. Trump’s lawyers argue that, in light of the ruling, the jurors in the hush money case should not have been presented such evidence as former White House staff describing how the then-president reacted to news coverage of the Daniels deal.