Trump sentencing in New York hush money case postponed until after presidential election

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he arrives to court for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump will not face criminal sentencing in New York for his state felony convictions ahead of the November election, according to a decision released Friday by New York Judge Juan Merchan.

The New York judge said the new sentencing date will be Nov. 26, according to a letter he issued.

Merchan wrote that the court is “now at a place in time that is fraught with complexities,” referring to the fast-approaching presidential election and the consequential U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity that Trump’s legal team has now brought to the center of the New York case.

“Adjourning decision on the motion and sentencing, if such is required, should dispel any suggestion that the Court will have issued any decision or imposed sentence either to give an advantage to, or to create a disadvantage for, any political party and/or any candidate for any office,” Merchan wrote.

“This is not a decision the court makes lightly but it is the decision which in this court’s view best advances the interests of justice,” Merchan concluded.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that the “Manhattan D.A. Witch Hunt has been postponed because everyone realizes that there was NO CASE, I DID NOTHING WRONG!”

The former president again falsely repeated, as he had during the trial, that the New York case was controlled by the Biden administration.

Trump, vying again for the Oval Office as the Republican nominee, is the first former president to become a felon.

He was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in May after a weeks-long Manhattan trial that centered on hush money payments to a porn star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump asked the New York court to delay the sentencing until after the 2024 election, arguing that the question of presidential immunity as it related to the New York conviction remains unresolved.

Friday’s decision marks the second time Merchan has delayed Trump’s sentencing.

Merchan delayed Trump’s initial July sentencing date, just one day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former presidents enjoy criminal immunity for official “core constitutional” acts and at least presumptive immunity for “outer perimeter” activities, but not for personal ones.

Trump’s lawyers argued the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision nullified his New York state convictions, particularly because the evidence presented at trial could now be considered subject to immunity.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg agreed to a delay while the parties filed legal arguments on the issue of immunity, which Bragg ultimately argued had “no bearing” on Trump’s convictions and evidence examined by the jury.

Trump, who has been entangled on several legal fronts, escalated his separate federal criminal case alleging 2020 election interference all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing presidential immunity for any criminal charges stemming from his time in office.

The case alleging Trump schemed to overturn the 2020 presidential election results was returned to federal trial court. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday released a pre-trial calendar that extends beyond this November’s election.