Trump hush money sentencing delayed to September, weeks before US
election
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[July 03, 2024]
By Luc Cohen and Susan Heavey
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump's sentencing for his
conviction on criminal charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn
star was delayed on Tuesday until Sept. 18, less than seven weeks before
the U.S. election.
Justice Juan Merchan pushed back the sentencing date so he can weigh the
former U.S. president's argument he should have been immune from
prosecution under Monday's landmark Supreme Court ruling that presidents
cannot be criminally prosecuted for official acts.
The new timeline means Merchan could decide the Republican presidential
candidate's punishment, including whether to jail him, in the thick of
the campaign season before the Nov. 5 election.
The sentencing had previously been set for July 11, just days before the
July 15 kickoff of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Trump faces an uphill battle getting the hush money conviction
overturned, since much of the conduct at issue in the case predated his
time in office.
Trump's lawyers on Monday asked Merchan to allow them to argue his
conviction should be overturned due to the justices' 6-3 ruling on July
1, which also held that evidence related to presidents' official actions
cannot be used to help prove criminal cases involving unofficial actions
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2017/Jul/22/images/ads/current/rohlfs_lda_072017.png)
Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said
earlier on Tuesday that Trump's argument was "without merit," but agreed
to delay the sentencing to give Trump the chance to make his case.
A Manhattan jury on May 30 found Trump guilty of falsifying business
records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment
to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about an alleged 2006
sexual encounter until after the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated
Democrat Hillary Clinton.
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![](../images/070324PIX/news_k24.jpg)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks outside Trump Tower after
the verdict in his criminal trial over charges that he falsified
business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy
Daniels in 2016, in New York City, U.S. May 30, 2024.
REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/ File Photo/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jul/03/images/ads/current/longview_lda_HEROES_2024.png)
Prosecutors said the payment was part of an illicit scheme to
influence the election.
Trump denies having had sex with Daniels and has vowed to appeal the
conviction after his sentencing.
'A PURELY PERSONAL ITEM'
In their letter to Merchan, defense lawyers argued that prosecutors
had presented evidence involving Trump's official acts as president,
including social media posts he made and conversations he had while
in the White House.
"This official-acts evidence should never have been put before the
jury," lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote.
Last year, Trump made a similar argument as part of an unsuccessful
push to move the hush money case to federal court. In denying
Trump's request in July 2023, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein
wrote that the payment to Daniels "was a purely personal item."
"Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a
president's official acts," Hellerstein wrote.
Trump's lawyers appealed Hellerstein's decision, but later abandoned
the effort.
In his written ruling, Merchan said he would rule on Trump's request
to set aside the jury's verdict by Sept. 6, with sentencing to
follow less than two weeks later should the judge decide to uphold
the conviction. Trump's lawyers must submit their arguments by July
10, and prosecutors face a July 24 deadline to respond.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Susan Heavey in Washington;
Editing by Noeleen Walder, Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis)
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