Aug. 15 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump‘s attorneys have asked the judge overseeing his New York criminal case to again delay sentencing until after November’s election.
In a letter dated Wednesday to Judge Juan Merchan, Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove argued that Trump’s sentencing should be delayed until after the presidential election in November is over, contending that such a move is necessary in order to resolve ongoing legal disputes related to the conviction.
They also noted the current Sept. 18 sentencing date will arrive after early voting gets underway in some states.
“By adjourning the sentencing until after that election…the Court would reduce, even if not eliminate, issues regarding the integrity of any future proceedings,” Blanche and Bove wrote.
Trump’s original July 11 sentencing date had previously been postponed by Merchan to Sept.18 in the aftermath of the Supreme Court‘s ruling on presidential immunity.
“There is no valid countervailing reason for the Court to keep the current sentencing date on the calendar,” the two Trump lawyers said in the letter.
At the end of May, Trump was found guilty by a jury of his peers in New York on all 34 counts of falsifying Trump Organization business records to conceal what was legally criminal conduct to hide his alleged extramarital sexual encounter with adult film actress Stormy Daniels from the public in order to win the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has been seeking to overturn the conviction, citing the recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, along with other legal maneuvers to slow down the process leading to his conviction in May, pending sentencing date and in his three other remaining cases in other jurisdictions.
Merchan has said that he will rule on the immunity motion on Sept. 6.
Trump’s legal defense team has grabbed onto the employment of Merchan’s daughter, who works at a digital agency that works with Democrat candidates, to claim it is a conflict of interests for him to preside over the case.
On Wednesday, the judge rejected a third effort by Trump’s lawyers to force Merchan’s recusal.
Blanche and Bove stated their belief that the requested delay would prevent Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg from filing a sentencing submission while Merchan was still actively considering Trump’s motion in the case related to presidential immunity, and would allow extra time for them to plan for an appeal to a possible rejection of the effort to overturn the case.
Meanwhile, Bragg’s office declined to comment on Wednesday’s letter by Trump’s legal team.
“The requested adjournment is also necessary to allow President Trump adequate time to assess and pursue state and federal appellate options in response to any adverse ruling,” the letter read.
Wednesday’s letter arrived two days after the Republican presidential nominee’s wide-ranging 2-hour long “talk” on the social media platform X with its billionaire owner Elon Musk, who has endorsed Trump’s third White House bid, after it got off to a rocky start due to technical issues.