A New York judge on Friday agreed to delay the sentencing of former President Donald Trump in his hush money case, pushing it back to Nov. 26.
The decision follows a multi-pronged effort by Trump’s legal team to postpone his Sept. 18 sentencing, arguing that proceeding before then could unfairly affect his campaign ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office did not object to Trump’s request last month to delay the sentencing.
However, prosecutors had pushed back against one of Trump’s separate last-ditch efforts to delay the sentencing through an alternative workaround: asking federal courts to remove his case from state court. Trump’s attorneys argued the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision should require his case to be transferred to a federal judge.
Prosecutors argued in a letter to Merchan this week that there is now “no basis” for Trump’s bid to freeze the case in New York state court in lieu of his effort to move to federal court, which was turned down earlier this week by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein.
Trump is still seeking a reversal of Hellerstein’s rejection of that effort, and an appeal has been docketed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
But the overall delay ordered by Merchan on Friday resolves the core issue Trump was attempting to address as the 2024 election grows closer.
In May, the former president was convicted for charges related to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, with prosecutors accusing him of falsifying business records to cover up the payments. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, calling the case a “political witch hunt.”
Merchan is also slated to decide on Sept. 16 whether the Supreme Court immunity decision should prompt him to toss the jury’s guilty verdict.
Trump, who appeared voluntarily in New York court on Friday as he appealed a separate civil ruling against him involving E. Jean Carroll’s first defamation case, continues to assert his innocence and vows to fight the charges, as he prepares for a debate face-off next week with Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 10.
Trump allies brewing their own fights over hush money case
Meanwhile, conservative allies of Trump are making efforts to uncover any potential malfeasance by Merchan in his handling of the hush money case after Trump made three failed attempts to recuse him from the case over claims of a conflict of interest.
America First Legal, a group headed by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller, sued Merchan on Thursday for refusing to turn over his financial disclosures amid questions over his daughter Loren Merchan’s work at a Democratic firm.
“This is especially important given the fact that Merchan appears to have engaged in unlawful campaign contributions and is on the precipice of criminally sentencing the former president of the United States,” AFL attorney Dan Epstein said in a statement. “Fundamental fairness dictates a resolution of America First Legal’s suit in its favor.”
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On Aug. 28, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed the daughter’s firm, Authentic Campaigns, after it previously failed to comply with requests for records related to the committee’s investigation over whether the judge is compromised due to the firm’s past work for Trump’s opponents, including Harris.
Accountable Campaigns CEO Michael Nellis pushed back on those allegations after Jordan’s subpoena, saying the claims by Trump and other allies were “completely false and purely politically motivated.”