In his criminal case involving hush money in New York, Donald Trump is requesting that the court postpone his sentence until after the November presidential election.
In his criminal case involving hush money in New York, Donald Trump is requesting that the court postpone his sentence until after the November presidential election.
A previous president’s attorney, who is currently the Republican nominee, implied in a letter made public on Thursday that sentencing Trump on September 18, which is around seven weeks before Election Day, might be considered election meddling.
A postponement, according to Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche, would also give Trump more time to consider his options following the trial judge Juan M. Merchan’s decision on September 16 regarding the defense’s motion to reverse the verdict and dismiss the case due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of presidential immunity in July.
“There’s no reason to keep rushing,” Blanche penned.
Blanche dispatched the letter to Merchan on Wednesday subsequent to the judge dismissing the defense’s most recent demand that he withdraw from the case.
The defense’s claim that the judge has a conflict of interest due to his daughter working as a Democratic political consultant—including for Kamala Harris during her 2020 presidential campaign—was restated by Blanche in the letter. Harris is now a candidate in Trump’s race.
Blanche ruled that “the Court would diminish, even if not eradicate, questions surrounding the integrity of any future proceedings” by delaying the punishment until after that election.Merchan did not respond to the delay request right away, despite having said that he is confident in his abilities to maintain objectivity and fairness.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office—which handled Trump’s case—was contacted for comment.
In May, Trump was found guilty of fabricating company documents to hide a 2016 agreement to pay porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her claimed 2006 sexual encounter with him. Attorneys for the prosecution portrayed the payment as a part of Trump’s campaign strategy to prevent voters from learning negative information about him.
Trump claims that all of the allegations were untrue, that the financial documents were authentic, and that the lawsuit was a ploy to harm his candidacy. Democrat Alvin Bragg is the district attorney for Manhattan.
Trump’s legal team said that the payments were appropriately classified since they were for legal services.
The maximum sentence for falsifying company documents is four years in prison. Probation, a fine, or a conditional discharge, in which Trump would have to abstain from wrongdoing in order to avoid further punishment, are other possible punishments. The first former president to be found guilty of a crime is Trump.
Trump has promised to file an appeal, but not until after he is given a sentence.
Merchan scheduled “the imposition of sentence or other proceedings as appropriate” for September 18 in a prior letter.
In his letter requesting a postponement, Blanche contended that Trump is being treated unfairly by the rapid transition from the expected immunity finding on September 16 to sentence two days later.
While Merchan is still considering whether to dismiss the case on immunity grounds, Blanche said, prosecutors will be presenting their recommended penalty in order to get ready for sentencing. Trump would want “adequate time to assess and pursue state and federal appellate options” if Merchan rejects his motion for the dismissal, according to Blanche.
Due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity, it is now more difficult for prosecutors to use an ex-president’s official conduct as proof that their unofficial actions were unlawful. Trump’s attorneys contend that the jury in the hush money case shouldn’t have heard testimony from former White House employees detailing the then-president’s response to media coverage of the Daniels transaction in light of the verdict.
