Trump Sentencing in Hush Money Case Delayed Until September
President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his New York hush money trial has been delayed until September 18, CNN reported on Tuesday.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in late May for falsifying business records regarding money payments to cover up extramarital affairs from being revealed during the 2016 campaign. He was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, facing up to four years behind bars, although many legal observers expect his sentence as a first-time offender would be far shorter, or even only probation with no jail time.
In the wake of a Supreme Court opinion finding that presidents did have immunity for “official acts” conducted while in office, Trump has argued that his conviction in this case — as well as his other pending criminal cases — should be tossed out. This argument has met with skepticism from legal experts who have pointed out that the New York case centered around his conduct before he was elected. However, as The New York Times noted, Trump’s lawyers have argued that prosecutors “built their case partly on evidence from his time in the White House.”
Trump’s attorneys had requested that Judge Juan Merchan delay the July 11 sentencing date to allow time to address the legal issues stemming from the Supreme Court ruling. On Tuesday, prosecutors responded with their own letter stating that while they believed Trump’s arguments were “without merit,” they did not object to a delay and were “respectfully request[ing] a deadline of July 24, 2024.”
Tuesday afternoon, Merchan issued a decision delaying the sentencing until September 18, CNN’s Kara Scannell reported “to give him time to consider Trump’s effort to try to overturn the conviction in light of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.”
Merchan also agreed to a briefing schedule and said that he would issue his opinion on the immunity issue on September 6, followed by the sentencing on September 18.
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This is a breaking news story and has been updated with additional information.
