Judge delays Donald Trump's sentencing in hush money case until after November election

The Manhattan judge overseeing the hush money trial against Donald Trump delayed the sentencing in the case until after the fall presidential election to avoid the perception of a political bias, he said in a ruling.

The new date for the sentencing will be Nov. 26. The former president had been scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 18.

A Manhattan jury convicted the former president in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin J. Bragg accused Trump of dummying up his ledgers to cover up reimbursements to his former fixer Michael Cohen, who had paid former adult film star Stormy Daniels not to go to the press about an alleged one-night stand she had with the former president.

Trump denied he had a sexual affair with Daniels and charged that the Biden administration pushed the local prosecutor to bring the case to undermine his reelection bid.

Trump faces up to four years in prison for the conviction, but will more likely receive little or no time behind bars based on his age and the fact that it is his first criminal conviction.

In August, defense lawyers for Trump argued that New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan had a conflict of interest in the case because his daughter works for a prominent Democratic political consulting firm. The attorneys asked Merchan to step down from the case or postpone sentencing until after the election to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest.

"The court is a fair, impartial and apolitical institution," Merchan wrote in his decision to delay the hearing. "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."

Defense lawyers also hoped to delay sentencing to pursue overturning the convictions based on the U.S. Supreme Court decision that presidents cannot be prosecuted for official acts performed while in office. The high court's decision also deemed nonofficial acts performed in the White House to also be immune from prosecution.

Texts, social media messages and emails presented at trial by former White House staff could have been withheld from the jury under this ruling, the attorneys argued.

The former president's team has explored other legal arguments for voiding the conviction.

On Tuesday, the Trump team lost a bid to have the case moved from state court to federal court.

On Friday, after Merchan's decision came out, the Trump campaign again framed the criminal case as politically motivated.

"There should be no sentencing in the Manhattan DA’s Election Interference Witch Hunt," Trump campaign manager Steven Cheung said in a statement. "As mandated by the United States Supreme Court, this case, along with all of the other Harris-Biden Hoaxes, should be dismissed."

Over the summer, prosecutors said they were indifferent to the proposed rescheduling, but Merchan referenced a letter submitted Aug. 16 by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office that said they supported postponing the hearing.

Bragg's office said Friday that prosecutors will adjust to the new date.

"A jury of 12 New Yorkers swiftly and unanimously convicted Donald Trump of 34 felony counts," spokeswoman Danielle Filson said in an email. "The Manhattan D.A.’s Office stands ready for sentencing on the new date set by the court."

Legal experts agreed with the judge's decision.

"I think he did the right thing in putting it off," Long Island defense attorney Michael Scotto said. "If there was a decision on the case before the election, it wouldn't be the final word."

He said appeals in the case would likely drag on for years and eventually reach the Supreme Court.

"Nothing that the judge would do would give the voters a better idea of what's going on," Scotto said. "Because the voters who believe he's not guilty are going to say he's not guilty, and the voters who believe he's guilty are going to say he's guilty, no matter what."