Trump fails in latest attempt to delay sentencing in hush money case

Donald Trump’s latest move to delay sentencing in the hush money case, in which he was convicted of 34 felony counts, has failed. The former president’s defense had asked a federal court to take over the case, which would have delayed the process indefinitely and prevented sentencing before the presidential elections on November 5. On Tuesday, however, Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected the request to intervene in a forceful four-page ruling. It is still possible that the trial judge, Juan Merchan, will delay sentencing, but it is in his hands to deliver a sentence that could involve prison terms.

Hellerstein denied Trump’s lawyers permission to file documents asking the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to take over the case. He said the defense had not met the burden of proof required to change jurisdiction to a federal court. Trump was found guilty by a jury after a trial in a New York state court. He was convicted of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, a porn actress whose allegations of having had an affair with Trump threatened to disrupt the latter’s 2016 presidential run.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling two months ago granting broad immunity from prosecution to presidents for their official acts, Judge Merchan gave the parties a deadline to present their arguments and provisionally set a new sentencing date of September 18.

Trump wanted the case moved to federal court precisely so he could seek to have the verdict overturned and the case dismissed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s July 1 ruling. Hellerstein, who denied Trump’s request to move the case to federal court last year, said on Tuesday that “nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts outside the bounds of executive authority.”

Trump’s lawyers also asked Judge Merchan two weeks ago to postpone sentencing until after the election. In theory, the sentence could put Trump behind bars for years, although the most common outcome would be for him to be placed on probation.

Two other cases that seemed to be on hold have also recently resurfaced, although neither of them will go to trial before November 5. Federal Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed by Trump himself, surprisingly decided to shelve the Mar-a-Lago papers case in July on the grounds that the appointment of the special counsel, Jack Smith, was illegal because he had not been appointed by the president (the attorney general did) nor had he been ratified by the Senate. However, Smith filed a challenge on Monday with the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which has already dealt the judge several legal blows for her decisions favoring Trump.

The other unresolved case involves Trump’s alleged attempts to alter the result of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden. The special counsel has obtained a new revised indictment backed by another grand jury and which preserves the earlier indictment’s four charges. Trump and his lawyers believe that the new accusation continues to violate his immunity. Judge Tanya Chutkan, appointed by Barack Obama, will have to decide on the case. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Washington.

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