Attorneys for former President Donald Trump asked the judge overseeing his criminal case in New York to delay his sentencing until after the presidential election in November, arguing that a delay is necessary to resolve ongoing legal challenges to his conviction.
In a letter to Justice Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing the case, Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove noted that the current sentencing date of Sept. 18 would come after early voting has already begun.
“Sentencing is currently scheduled to occur after the commencement of early voting in the Presidential election,” Blanche and Bove wrote. “By adjourning the sentencing until after that election … the Court would reduce, even if not eliminate, issues regarding the integrity of any future proceedings.”
Trump was convicted by a unanimous jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May. Prosecutors had argued he orchestrated a scheme while president to hide reimbursements to a lawyer who wired a “hush money” payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election to keep voters from learning about allegations of an extramarital sexual encounter. Trump denied the encounter and pleaded not guilty.
Trump has sought to overturn the conviction, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling on “presidential immunity.” His lawyers argued that delaying the sentencing would allow them more time to plan for appealing a rejection of their effort to overturn the case. The judge has said he’ll rule on that motion on Sept. 16
“There is no valid countervailing reason for the Court to keep the current sentencing date on the calendar. There is no basis for continuing to rush,” they wrote, claiming keeping the date would serve “naked election-interference objectives.”
A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment.