A New York judge on Tuesday delayed the sentencing of former President Donald Trump in his felony criminal case so that the judge can consider whether a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling might require him to overturn the conviction.
Judge Juan Merchan was to sentence Trump on July 11 for his conviction on 34 charges that he illegally tried to influence the outcome of his successful 2016 presidential campaign by falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to a porn star to silence her claim — denied by Trump — that they had a one-night tryst in 2006. Merchan has rescheduled the sentencing for September 18.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not be charged with offenses related to his official actions as president although he could face prosecution for unofficial acts. The high court ruling centered on Trump's actions in late 2020 and early 2021, when he is alleged to have illegally tried to upend his 2020 reelection loss.
Almost the entirety of the testimony in the New York hush money case centered on Trump's actions as he campaigned for the presidency in 2015 and 2016, before he won the election eight years ago, and in the ensuing weeks before he took office.
But one key scene recounted at the trial occurred later, when erstwhile Trump lawyer and political fixer Michael Cohen testified that he and Trump met at the White House in February 2017, shortly after Trump assumed the presidency.
Cohen said he and Trump discussed how Cohen would be reimbursed for the hush money he had paid porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep voters from learning about her alleged affair with Trump just ahead of the November 2016 voting. Cohen subsequently was paid back in monthly installments throughout 2017.
Trump's lawyers claim that because of the White House meeting, Trump's conviction should be overturned, in accordance with the new Supreme Court ruling.
"At the very least, we deserve a new trial," Trump lawyer Will Scharf told CNN.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan in a letter Tuesday that although prosecutors "believe the defendant's arguments to be without merit," they did not object to delaying the scheduled sentencing.
Trump's lawyers asked to have until July 10 to file their request to overturn the verdict, while Steinglass asked that prosecutors have until July 24 to respond.