In a major turn of events on Friday, Judge Juan Merchan agreed to delay Donald Trump’s sentencing in the “hush money case” until after the November election.
The Manhattan judge delayed the sentencing until Nov. 26, a few weeks after the final votes will be counted in the presidential election.
The original scheduling was to take place on Sept. 18, less than two months before the election.
Merchan stated that he was delaying the sentencing “to avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching presidential election in which the Defendant is a candidate.”
He added that “the Court is a fair, impartial, and apolitical institution.”
Trump’s lawyers sought a delay through various channels, including petitions to both the judge and a federal court. They contended that sentencing the former president and current Republican nominee amid his presidential campaign would constitute election interference, NBC 4 reported.
Trump’s lawyers contended that postponing his sentencing until after the election would provide him with the opportunity to consider his options following Judge Merchan’s decision on their request to overturn his conviction and dismiss the case in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity.
In his Friday ruling, Merchan pushed back the decision on that matter until Nov. 12.
On Tuesday, a federal judge denied Trump’s request to transfer the case from state court to the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Trump’s lawyers had intended to use this move to overturn the verdict and dismiss the case based on immunity.
Trump is appealing the federal court’s decision. The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which handled the prosecution, chose not to weigh in on the defense’s request for a delay and deferred to Merchan.
In May, Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, a p*rn actress, shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels alleges they had a s*xual encounter a decade earlier after meeting at a celebrity golf event in Lake Tahoe.
