Manhattan prosecutors have agreed to postpone former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in the hush money case. This decision comes after Trump’s lawyers requested a delay, citing a Supreme Court ruling that granted presidents immunity for official acts.
Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday agreed with Donald J. Trump’s request to postpone his criminal sentencing so that the judge overseeing the case could weigh whether a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling might imperil his conviction, new court filings show.
It is up to the judge to determine whether to postpone the sentencing, though with both sides in agreement, a delay seemed likely. The judge, Juan M. Merchan, could rule as soon as Tuesday.
A delay would represent a surprising setback for the case, which led to the first conviction of an American president. The sentencing was likely to be the only moment of criminal accountability for the twice-impeached and four-time indicted former president whose other cases are mired in delay.
Mr. Trump, who was convicted of falsifying business records related to his cover-up of a sex scandal during his 2016 presidential campaign, was scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, just days before he is to be formally nominated for president at the Republican National Convention. He faces up to four years in prison, though he could receive as little as a few weeks in jail, or probation.
On Monday, the planned sentencing hit a snag when the Supreme Court granted Mr. Trump broad immunity from prosecution for official actions taken as president. The landmark ruling, which was decided 6-3 along partisan lines, dealt a major blow to Mr. Trump’s federal criminal case in Washington, where he is accused of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office says it is open to delaying Donald Trump’s sentencing to brief his motion to set aside his criminal conviction on business fraud charges in the wake of Monday’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity.
The prospect of a delay in sentencing means that the former president is likely to escape any concrete punishment for his felony conviction before accepting the Republican presidential nomination later this month, at the same time that Trump’s election bid has been boosted by President Joe Biden’s debate flop that has Democrats wondering whether to replace their nominee.
Trump is currently scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.
“Although we believe defendant’s arguments to be without merit, we do not oppose his request for leave to file and his putative request to adjourn sentencing pending determination of his motion. We respectfully request a deadline of July 24, 2024—two weeks after defendant’s requested deadline—to file and serve a response,” the DA said in a letter Tuesday.
The district attorney’s willingness to push back Trump’s sentencing underscores the far-reaching implications of Monday’s Supreme Court ruling, in which the court’s conservative wing found that presidents have absolute immunity for “core” presidential duties.
The decision has thrown special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump on election subversion charges into doubt – and a trial before the November election is all but impossible now. The ruling could impact the indictments of Trump in the classified documents and Georgia election interference cases as well.