Judge delays Donald Trump’s Hush Money Sentencing Until After the Election

The sentencing of Donald Trump in his New York hush money trial was postponed Friday until after November’s presidential election, a victory for the Republican as he faces Democrat Kamala Harris in a razor-thin race.

The former president was set to be sentenced on September 18 for fabricating business records in an attempt to hush a porn star’s politically damaging story.

However, Judge Juan Merchan postponed it until November 26 – well after the November 5 election, as asked by Donald 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 at the time.

Donald Trump was convicted in May on 34 charges of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from reporting an alleged sexual encounter on the eve of the 2016 election.

He was originally set to be sentenced on July 11.

However, that was postponed because the US Supreme Court determined that a former president had wide immunity from criminal prosecution.

Following the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, Donald Trump’s lawyers requested that his New York conviction be dismissed. Merchan stated that he would rule on the dismissal request on November 12.

The postponement comes as the already remarkable White House contest enters a new tense phase, with Harris and Donald Trump scheduled for their first televised debate next Tuesday.

Donald Trump’s Public Remarks and Election Campaign Strategies

Instead of addressing major voter issues such as immigration or the economy, Trump was in New York hours before the ruling, making meandering speeches about his numerous legal troubles while denying multiple women’s allegations of sexual harassment or assault.

“This is not the kind of publicity you like,” Trump said from the lobby of Trump Tower, despite spending an hour unprompted reminding voters of his long legal troubles and allegations of rape and sexual assault by various women, including writer E. Jean Carroll.

The legal drama occurred on the day that the first mail-in ballots of the election were scheduled to be distributed.

North Carolina, a battleground state, was expected to mail out some 130,000 absentee voting papers, signalling the symbolic start of a nationwide process that saw 155 million Americans vote in the heated 2020 election.

However, a state appeals court suspended the process in response to a last-minute lawsuit filed by independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wants his name deleted from ballots. The fringe candidate from America’s most famous political dynasty has dropped out and backed Donald Trump.

North Carolina is one of several swing states that Harris and Donald Trump have been visiting as they enter the most intense part of an election that is likely to be determined by razor-thin margins.

Other states will shortly send out initial batches of ballots, and early in-person voting will begin in 47 states as soon as September 20.

Donald Trump is set to speak in North Carolina later on Friday.