Judge Delays Former US President Donald Trump’s Sentencing in Hush Money Case

New York: Former US President Donald Trump will not be sentenced in his New York criminal case until after the 2024 presidential election in November, media reported. As per the CNN report on Friday, Judge Juan Merchan explained the reason that delay in the sentencing is in part to avoid any appearance of affecting the outcome of the presidential race.

Merchan wrote in a new four-page letter that he would sentence Trump on November 26 — if necessary — in response to a request from Trump’s lawyers to push back the sentencing.

Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to an adult-film star alleging an affair with the former President, CNN reported.

But Trump’s sentencing has been on hold for months after the former President’s lawyers pushed to have the conviction tossed because of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.

Merchan noted the upcoming presidential election in his decision to delay sentencing, saying that part of his reason for doing so was to avoid the appearance that the sentencing was intended to influence the November election.

“Adjourning decision on the motion and sentencing, if such is required, should dispel any suggestion that the Court will have issued any decision or imposed sentence either to give an advantage to, or to create a disadvantage for, any political party and or any candidate for any office,” Merchan wrote. Trump expressed appreciation for the language Merchan used in delaying his sentencing, noting that it will only commence “if necessary”.

“I greatly appreciate the words in the letter today from the judge. He said ‘if necessary’, being utilised in the decision, because there should be no ‘if necessary’. This case should rightfully be terminated immediately,” Trump said during remarks to the Fraternal Order of Police in North Carolina.

The former President also falsely said that the sentencing was “postponed” because he “did nothing wrong”.

In addition to pushing back the sentencing until November 26, Merchan wrote that he would decide on Trump’s motion to vacate the verdict because of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision on November 12, which is also after the election, CNN reported. (IANS)

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