Judge postpones sentencing in Donald Trump bribery case until after November election

NEW YORK — Sentencing in Donald Trump’s bribery case has been delayed until after the November election, giving the former president a hard-fought reprieve at the last minute of the campaign and amid the fallout from his conviction.

IN decision On Friday, Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan postponed Trump’s sentencing until Nov. 26, three weeks after the final votes were cast in the U.S. presidential election. Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 18, about seven weeks before Election Day.

The delay is another stroke of luck for Trump in an election season rife with legal threats.

The fresh date means voters will choose their next president without knowing whether the Republican nominee will go to prison or even be convicted. Merchan now plans to rule on Trump’s case on November 12 motion to set aside the judgment and dismiss the case due to the US Supreme Court ruling in July ruling on presidential immunity.

Merchan explained that he was postponing the announcement of the verdict “to avoid any appearance — even unfounded — that the proceedings have affected or are intended to affect the upcoming presidential elections in which the accused is a candidate.”

» READ MORE: Explaining the US Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity and what it means for Trump’s ability to stand trial

“The court is an honest, impartial and apolitical institution,” he added, writing that his decision “should dispel any suggestions” to the contrary.

Trump — fresh out of the loop appellate arguments in sexual harassment lawsuit against him in nearby federal court — promised to delay sentencing for his silence. In a post on his platform, Truth Social called the case a “witch hunt” and a “political attack” and reiterated that he did nothing wrong.

“This matter should be legally concluded as we prepare for the most important elections in the history of our country,” he wrote.

Prosecutors said they were prepared to announce the verdict on a fresh date.

“A jury of 12 New Yorkers quickly and unanimously convicted Donald Trump of 34 felonies,” said Danielle Filson, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. She is a Democrat.

Trump’s attorneys have pushed for a delay on multiple fronts, petition to the judge and asking the federal court is to intervene. They argued that punishing the former president while he campaigned to retake the White House would be tantamount to election interference.

Prosecutors have not taken a position on Trump’s request for a delay, leaving the matter to Merchan.

» READ MORE: Guilty: Trump becomes first former US president convicted of criminal offences

AND A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Trump’s motion for the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to take over the case from Merchan’s state court. Trump is appealing the federal court’s decision and has asked appellate judges to stay the proceedings after his conviction.

Trump entered this election year facing the possibility of multiple criminal trials after being accused four times from March 2023. But a series of decisions over the past two months, culminating in Friday’s delay in the verdict, have largely cleared his legal calendar. The hush money case is the only one to go to trial.

In July, a judge dismissed a federal case in Florida that accused Trump of illegally collecting secret documents. The Supreme Court’s immunity ruling has caused significant delays in a separate federal case in Washington, D.C., in which Trump is accused of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. An election case in Georgia also remains idle.

The immunity ruling limits prosecution of former presidents for their official actions and prevents prosecutors from citing official actions as evidence that the president’s unofficial actions were illegal.

Election Day is November 5, but many states allow voters to cast their ballots early, with some planning to start the process several days before or after September 18.

Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime. A jury found him guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels claims she and Trump had a sexual encounter a decade earlier after meeting at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.

Prosecutors portray the payment as part of Trump’s effort to keep voters from hearing juicy stories about him during his first presidential campaign. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels and later received a refund from Trump, whose firm recorded the reimbursements as legal fees.

Trump maintains the stories were false and the reimbursements were for legal work and were properly recorded. He has promised to appeal the verdict, but he cannot do so until he is convicted.

Democrats supporting their party’s presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, have made his beliefs a central part of their message.

In remarks at the party’s convention in Chicago last month, President Joe Biden called Trump a “convicted felon” who is running against a former prosecutor. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, called Trump “a career criminal with 34 felonies, two impeachments and one porn star to prove it.”

Trump’s 2016 Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, prompted chants of “lock him up” from the convention crowd when she joked that Trump “fell asleep at his own trial, and when he woke up, he made his own history: the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.”

Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years in prison. Other potential sentences include probation, a fine or parole, which would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment.

Trump’s case “is unique and holds a unique place in this nation’s history,” Merchan wrote.

“The public’s confidence in the integrity of our judicial system requires that the sentencing hearing focus entirely on the jury’s verdict and the consideration of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, without any distortion or distortion,” he wrote.