Trump's Hush Money Sentencing Delayed After Supreme Court Ruling

Sara Boboltz
Updated ·2-min read

UPDATE: 3:08 p.m. ET— Former President Donald Trump’s sentencing has officially been postponed to Sept. 18th. Read more here.

PREVIOUSLY:

New York prosecutors do not oppose former President Donald Trump’s request to argue that his hush money conviction should be thrown out, almost certainly delaying the sentencing hearing that had been set for July 11.

Trump’s lawyers sent Judge Juan Merchan a letter Monday requesting leave to file a motion setting aside the verdict, citing the shock Supreme Court decision handed down that day granting presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office requested a deadline of July 24 to respond to Trump’s team.

The prosecutors noted in their Tuesday letter that they “believe defendant’s arguments to be without merit.”

If Merchan agrees to the delay, it will push the sentencing past the date of the Republican National Convention, meaning that Trump will become his party’s official presidential nominee while awaiting a criminal sentence.

A panel of 12 New Yorkers found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in May, marking the first time a U.S. president has ever been tried and convicted of a crime.

The case revolved around a hush money payment that Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made on behalf of his boss to silence the porn actor Stormy Daniels in the days before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels allegedly had a sexual encounter with Trump, which he denies.

On Monday, however, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for “official acts during his tenure in office.”

The court did not define the parameters of those actions that would be considered “official.”

While the hush money payment to Daniels was made before Trump took office, a scheme to reimburse Cohen for the hush money was carried out during Trump’s tenure. The checks and other documents relating to that repayment scheme are the backbone of the New York case.

It remains unclear how the Supreme Court ruling might affect the hush money case. The decision came in response to a challenge to federal criminal charges stemming from Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. A lower court is now tasked with determining how the Supreme Court’s ruling will affect the federal charges.

Trump asked Merchan for permission to have until July 10 to file his missive.

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