WASHINGTON — A New York judge agreed Tuesday to delay criminal sentencing against former President Donald Trump in a silence case after Trump said a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity exonerated him.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who oversaw the case, ordered delay until September 18 so the court can hear arguments on the Supreme Court’s immunity decision on Monday will affect Trump’s state-level sentencing, according to court documents.
Trump pleads guilty to 34th felony in New York convictions violate Monday’s Supreme Court decision and should be dismissed, according to letter to Merchan from Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche.
“The verdicts in this case violate the doctrine of presidential immunity and create a grave risk that the executive branch will devour itself,” Blanche wrote, adding that upon further review, “it will be obvious that the trial result cannot stand.”
On May 30, a Manhattan jury found the former president guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to a porn star weeks before the 2016 presidential election.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg agreed to letter Merchan requested a two-week delay in Trump’s sentencing, according to court documents.
Trump’s team has until July 10 to file its arguments. Bragg has agreed to July 24 as the deadline for responding.
“While we believe defendant’s arguments are without merit, we do not oppose his request for leave to file his motion or his putative motion to delay sentencing pending the resolution of his motion,” Bragg wrote Tuesday.
Merchan had scheduled the sentencing for July 11, just days before Trump officially nominates his party for president in 2024 at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The modern date pushes the sentencing to less than two months before Election Day.
Opinion on presidential immunity
Supreme Court he ruled in a 6-3 majority ruling that former U.S. presidents enjoy absolute immunity from prosecution for “core constitutional powers” and “are entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all official acts,” but are not immune from criminal prosecution for “unofficial acts.”
Trump takes presidential immunity case to Supreme Court after two lower courts negative his request for immunity from federal criminal charges claiming During his final months in the Oval Office, he attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Most of the judges opinion ordered a lower district court to send the 2020 election interference case back to the district court to decide whether Trump’s actions were official or unofficial actions. Those actions include Trump’s conversations with state officials about overturning the election results and his social media posts alleging voter fraud.
Verdict
According to the July 1 letter, Blanche asked Merchan to “overturn” Trump’s conviction based on Monday’s Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. United States.
Blanche argued that the evidence presented by prosecutors against Trump during the New York case was likely “official records.”
The New York state case centered on actions Trump took in his first year in office, including an Oval Office meeting discussing financial transactions with his former personal lawyer and checks he personally signed.
“In light of (Trump v. U.S.), evidence from official records should never have been presented to a jury,” Blanche wrote.
“Moreover, as we have argued before, (Trump v. US) prohibits “[u]evidence for such [official] “conduct, even if the indictment alleges only unofficial conduct.” This includes President Trump’s “tweets” and “public appearances”[es]”” wrote Blanche, quoting directly from the Supreme Court opinion.
New York prosecutors presented a mountain of evidence, including business records and witness statements, during the seven-week trial that showed Trump reimbursed his former lawyer Michael Cohen $130,000 for giving to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump later wrote off the payments as “legal fees” and increased the amount to Cohen to account for taxes and a bonus.
The testimony also revealed that Trump and Cohen held a meeting in the Oval Office to discuss the repayment plan, and evidence included nine checks with Trump’s personal signature.
