MANHATTAN (CN) — A New York Judge on Friday agreed to postpone Donald Trump’s sentencing until after the November presidential election, ruling that such a delay would be necessary to “avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect” the election.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan set the new scheduling date for Nov. 26 at 10 a.m., three weeks after the election.
Trump asked the court last month to reschedule his Manhattan sentencing, arguing that the initial Sept. 18 date could unduly influence the presidential election process since he would be sentenced after the start of early voting.
“By adjourning the sentencing until after that election … the court would reduce, even if not eliminate, issues regarding the integrity of any future proceedings,” Trump claimed in an Aug. 14 letter.
The former president said that he didn’t think a sentencing would be necessary at all, since he expects Merchan to vacate his conviction on presidential immunity grounds. Still, Trump argued that because Merchan isn’t expected to rule on immunity until Sept. 16 — two days before his planned sentencing — that he wouldn’t have enough time to seek out appellate options to a potentially adverse ruling on that issue.
But Merchan also delayed the date of his immunity ruling in his Friday order, setting the new date to Nov. 12.
Trump is more optimistic about his immunity chances than some experts. Former New York judge George Grasso told Courthouse News last month that he would be “stunned” if Trump’s presidential immunity argument is successful, since the crux of the case had to do with Trump’s behavior prior to becoming president.
The argument was successful enough to delay Trump’s sentencing once, however. He was supposed to be sentenced July 11, but after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling for broad presidential immunity, Merchan agreed to push the date back to Sept. 18 to allow Trump to argue against his conviction on those new immunity grounds.
A Manhattan jury in May convicted Trump on all 34 counts of falsifying business records, which were part of an illegal hush money scheme tied to his 2016 presidential run. The jurors found Trump ordered his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep her quiet about a tryst she had with Trump 10 years prior.
The jury found Trump then forged business records to repay Cohen, falsely labeling invoices, ledger entries and checks as payments for standard legal fees.
Trump is the first president in U.S. history to be convicted of a felony, and could face prison time for his crimes. He continues to deny any wrongdoing, or that he had sex with Daniels at all.
This is a developing story.
