Judge delays Trump hush money sentencing until after US election
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Trump had previously been scheduled to be sentenced on Sept 18, less than two months before the US election.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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NEW YORK - Sentencing for Donald Trump in his New York hush money trial was delayed on Sept 6 until after November’s election, a win for the Republican as he battles US Vice-President Kamala Harris in the knife-edge White House race.
The former US president had been scheduled to be sentenced on Sept 18
But Judge Juan Merchan postponed it to Nov 26 – three weeks after the Nov 5 election – as requested by Trump’s lawyers.
“This is not a decision this court makes lightly, but it is the decision which in this court’s view best advances the interests of justice,” he wrote.
The postponement comes as Trump and Democrat Harris prepare to face off for the first time on the debate stage on Sept 10, in an already extraordinary presidential race.
Trump welcomed the sentencing delay, taking to his Truth Social platform to blast the case as a “witch hunt”.
“This case should be rightfully terminated,” he added.
‘Politically prejudicial’
Trump, 78, was convicted in May of 34 counts of doctoring business records
The twice-impeached former president was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.
That was delayed after the US Supreme Court ruled that a former president has broad immunity from criminal prosecutions.
Trump’s lawyers asked that his New York conviction be dismissed following the Supreme Court immunity ruling. Mr Merchan said he would rule on the dismissal motion on Nov 12.
Mr Merchan noted that Trump had asked for the sentencing to be delayed “to avoid the potential ‘politically prejudicial’ impact that a public sentencing could have on him and his prospects in the upcoming election”.
Hours earlier, Trump was in New York delivering rambling remarks about his myriad legal problems, as he denied multiple women’s accusations of sexual harassment or assault.
“This is not the kind of publicity you like,” Trump acknowledged at Trump Tower, even as he spent an hour, unprompted, reminding voters of the accusations of sexual assault by various women, including writer E. Jean Carroll.
‘Inteference’
Trump’s detailed remarks on the cases were surprising, given that he needs to win over groups like suburban women in the tight race against Ms Harris, 59, who is aiming to become the nation’s first woman president.
Trump was in court in New York earlier on Sept 6 over the Carroll case, in which he has been ordered to pay her US$5 million (S$6.5 million) in damages for sexual assault and defamation.
“I never met her. I never touched her,” Trump said, describing the case as “political interference”.
The legal drama unfolded on the day the first mail-in ballots of the election were to be distributed.
The battleground state of North Carolina was scheduled to mail out around 130,000 absentee voting slips, marking the symbolic start of a nationwide process which, during the bitter 2020 election, saw 155 million Americans cast ballots.
However, a state appeals court halted the process after a last-minute lawsuit by independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who is seeking to have his name removed from ballots.
The fringe candidate from America’s most famous political family has dropped out and endorsed Trump.
Other states will also soon mail out ballots, and early in-person voting begins across 47 states as soon as Sept 20.
Trump headed to North Carolina later on Sept 6, where the convicted felon received the endorsement of the nation’s largest law enforcement union, the Fraternal Order of Police, and pledged to “bring back law and order” to the country.
“Kamala Harris and the communist left have unleashed a brutal plague of bloodshed, crime, chaos, misery and death upon our land,” he warned, as he falsely claimed US crime has skyrocketed.
Ms Harris, for her part, spoke to a Univision radio station, telling listeners “we need to turn the page on this Trump era”.
She earned a key endorsement on Sept 6 from Republican former vice-president Dick Cheney, who said: “There has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”
His daughter Liz Cheney, a conservative former congresswoman, publicly backed Ms Harris this week, joining hundreds of other Republicans who, like her father, have put “country over party”, said Harris campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon.
Ms Harris’ entry into the contest six weeks ago turbocharged enthusiasm among Democrats, who had been despondent about President Joe Biden’s chances of defeating Trump.
Her team announced on Sept 6 that it had raised US$361 million in August, the largest monthly haul of the cycle and nearly triple Trump’s figure. AFP
