Wat-Not Staff
In his criminal case in New York, where he was found guilty earlier this year of election-related fraud connected to payments of hush money to Stormy Daniels, the judge supervising Donald Trump’s case has decided to delay his sentencing until after the November election.
Former President convicted of hush money
Sentence was originally set for September 18, but Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan moved it forward to November 26 in anticipation of the November 5 election, in which Trump is seeking the Republican nomination against Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. A Manhattan jury convicted Trump on 34 counts in May after finding him guilty of masterminding a hush-money plot to sway the 2016 election.
This implies that the former president, who may serve time in jail as a result of the case, will remain unknown to voters on election day. In his initial response, Trump stated that the matter ought to be closed. Originally set for September 18, it was to take place roughly seven weeks before election day.
Trump’s lawyers fighting hard to overrule the punishment
Trump’s attorneys petitioned the judge and requested that a federal court get involved in order to push for the postponement on several fronts. They contended that penalizing the outgoing president and current Republican nominee in the midst of his reelection campaign would equate to meddling in the electoral process.
Delaying Trump’s sentencing until after the election, according to his attorneys, will also give him more time to consider his options after Merchan rules on the defense’s motion to overturn his conviction and dismiss the case due to the presidential immunity ruling issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in July.
Merchan said in his order on Friday that a decision on that would be made on November 12. Trump’s plea to transfer the case from Merchan’s state court to the US District Court in Manhattan was denied by a federal judge on Tuesday. Trump’s attorneys said that if they had been successful, they would have pursued an appeal of the decision and the case’s dismissal on the basis of immunity.
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