Key Points
- Donald Trump’s sentencing for falsifying business records has been delayed until 18 September.
- The criminal charges stem from hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
- Trump has vowed to appeal the conviction after his sentencing.
Donald Trump’s sentencing for his conviction on criminal charges stemming from hush money paid to an adult film star has been delayed until 18 September, less than seven weeks before the US presidential election.
Justice Juan Merchan pushed back the sentencing date to weigh the former president’s argument that he should have been immune from prosecution under Monday’s landmark Supreme Court ruling.
Under the ruling, presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for official acts.
The new timeline means Merchan could decide Trump’s punishment, including whether to jail him, in the thick of the campaign season before the 5 November election.
The sentencing was previously set for 11 July, just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee kicked off on 15 July.
Trump faces an uphill battle getting the hush money conviction overturned since much of the conduct at issue in the case predated his time in office.
Trump’s lawyers asked Merchan to allow them to argue his conviction should be overturned due to the Supreme Court ruling, which also held that evidence related to presidents’ official actions could not be used to help prove criminal cases involving unofficial actions.
Prosecutors with Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said earlier that Trump’s argument was “without merit”, but agreed to delay the sentencing to give Trump the chance to make his case.
On 30 May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter until after the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Prosecutors said the payment was part of an illicit scheme to influence the election.
Trump denies having had sex with Daniels and has vowed to appeal the conviction after his sentencing.
In their letter to Merchan, defence lawyers argued that prosecutors had presented evidence involving Trump’s official acts as president, including social media posts he made and conversations he had while in the White House.
This official-acts evidence should never have been put before the jury.
Lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove
Last year, Trump made a similar argument as part of an unsuccessful push to move the hush money case to federal court. When denying Trump’s request in July 2023, US district judge Alvin Hellerstein wrote that the payment to Daniels “was a purely personal item”.
“Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president’s official acts,” Hellerstein wrote.
Trump’s lawyers appealed Hellerstein’s decision but later abandoned the effort.
In his written ruling, Merchan said he would rule on Trump’s request to set aside the jury’s verdict by 6 September, with sentencing to follow less than two weeks later should the judge decide to uphold the conviction.
Trump’s lawyers must submit their arguments by 10 July, and prosecutors face a 24 July deadline to respond.
