Donald Trump is asking the judge in his New York hush money criminal caseto delay his sentencing until after the November presidential election.
In a letter made public Thursday, lawyers for the former president and current Republican nominee suggested that sentencing Trump as scheduled on Sept. 18 — about seven weeks before election day — would amount to election interference.
Trump’s lawyers wrote that a delay would also allow Trump time to weigh next steps after the trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, is expected to rule Sept. 16 on the defense’s request to overturn the verdict and dismiss the case because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s July presidential immunity ruling.
Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove sent the letter to Merchan on Wednesday after the judge rejected the defense’s latest request that he step aside from the case.
In the letter, Blanche and Bove reiterated the defense argument that the judge has a conflict of interest because his daughter works as a Democratic political consultant, including for Kamala Harris when she sought the 2020 presidential nomination. Harris is now running against Trump. By delaying the sentencing until after that election, “the Court would reduce, even if not eliminate, issues regarding the integrity of any future proceedings,” the lawyers wrote.
Election day is Nov. 5, but many states allow voters to cast ballots early, with some set to start the process just a few days before or after Trump’s scheduled Sept. 18 sentencing date.
Merchan, who has said he is confident in his ability to remain fair and impartial, did not immediately rule on the delay request. The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted Trump’s case, declined to comment.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in May for falsifying his business’ records to conceal a 2016 deal to pay off porn actor Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with him. Prosecutors cast the payout as part of a Trump-driven effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him during his first campaign.
Trump says all the stories were false, the business records were not and the case was politically motivated.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years behind bars. Other potential sentences include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge which would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment. Trump is the first ex-president convicted of a crime. He has pledged to appeal, but that cannot happen until he has been sentenced.
The Supreme Court’s immunity decision reins in prosecutions of ex-presidents for official acts and restricts prosecutors in pointing to official acts as evidence that a president’s unofficial actions were illegal. Trump’s lawyers argue that in light of the ruling, jurors in the hush money case should not have heard such evidence as former White House staffers describing how the then-president reacted to news coverage of the Daniels deal.
Sisak writes for the Associated Press.