Former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in a lawsuit alleging he paid to suppress potentially damaging stories has been postponed until at least September following the judge agreed to consider the potential impact of a new Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
The sentencing hearing was scheduled for Thursday, June 11, following he was found guilty in New York on charges of falsifying business records.
The former president denies having committed any crime.
The postponement sets sentencing for Sept. 18 at the earliest, if it ever occurs, as Trump’s lawyers argue the Supreme Court’s ruling justifies not only delaying sentencing but also vacating his guilty plea.
The new date falls well following this month’s Republican National Convention, where Trump will formally accept the party’s nomination for president in this year’s election.
September, however, is much closer to Election Day, which would put the issue at the forefront of voters’ minds just as they are seriously tuning into the race.
There was no immediate comment from Trump’s campaign or the Manhattan prosecutors who are handling the case.
The delay caps a series of political and legal victories for Trump in recent days, including the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and a debate widely viewed as a disaster for Democratic President Joe Biden.
The immunity decision all but closed the door on the possibility that Trump might face trial in his 2020 election meddling case in Washington before the November vote.
The deadline itself is a victory for the former president, who has sought to delay his four criminal cases beyond the election.
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2024-07-16 13:56:45
