(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s sentencing in his New York hush money case has been delayed until Nov. 26 — after the US election — instead of Sept. 18 as originally planned.
In granting Trump’s request for the delay, New York Judge Juan Merchan allows the former president and Republican nominee to avoid legal repercussions of his May 30 conviction before voters head to the polls.
“This is not a decision this court makes lightly, but it is the decision which in this court’s view, best advances the interests of justice,” Merchan said in the ruling. Trump’s lawyers had argued that sentencing was “election interference.”
Trump is also awaiting Merchan’s decision on his request to vacate the verdict in light of the US Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal charges; Merchan said in his decision that he will rule on Trump’s immunity by Nov. 12 instead of Sept. 16, another win for the former president. Trump is also pursuing a separate bid to get a federal court to take over the case.
Here’s what else to know:
What did the Supreme Court rule?
In July, in a 6-3 vote, the high court ruled that Trump has some immunity from criminal charges. Actions clearly within his constitutional authority are absolutely immune, the justices said, while those on the periphery can be prosecuted only if there’s no danger of intruding on executive branch authority. Unofficial acts enjoy no protection.
The justices sent the case before them, a federal prosecution of Trump accusing him of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 election, back to the trial judge to conduct an intensive factual review of what presidential conduct is immune, and what is not.
They also said Special Counsel Jack Smith, the prosecutor on the case, couldn’t use evidence of Trump’s official acts at trial, even if jurors are told they can convict only based on his private conduct. Smith had wanted to use Trump’s official actions to show he knew his claims of fraud in the 2020 election were false.
How does that ruling impact Trump’s hush money case?
It’s not clear; Merchan, the New York judge, has yet to decide.
A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, testified he paid her $130,000 to stay silent about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump. She had threatened to go public after the release of a tape in which Trump discussed sexually assaulting women.
Though much of the case centered around actions by Trump before he took office in 2017, his lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove say that testimony and evidence at the trial also concerned what could be deemed “official acts” under the Supreme Court ruling.
According to a letter they wrote to Merchan, this includes Trump’s social media posts and public statements while he was president; testimony by former White House officials Hope Hicks and Madeleine Westerhout; phone records involving Trump in office; and a financial disclosure form he filed in May 2018.
Prosecutors for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wrote to the judge that Trump’s arguments for throwing out the verdict are “without merit.”
What happens next?
Merchan must still decide how the Supreme Court ruling applies to the hush money case, which he’ll rule on by Nov. 12. The judge will need to determine what, if any, evidence and testimony at the trial concerned official acts covered by the ruling. That could lead Merchan to overturn the verdict, setting up the possibility of a second trial.
If Merchan doesn’t toss the case, the next step would be the Nov. 26 sentencing. Trump faces as long as four years behind bars, though a much shorter term — or just probation — remains a possibility; nothing requires the judge to impose jail time. If he’s sentenced, Trump would likely remain free pending the appeal he’d certainly file.
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