Judge warns Trump could go to jail for violating gag order
Artist: Jane Rosenberg
A judge ruled Friday that former President Donald Trump will not be sentenced in his hush-money criminal case in New York until after the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan ruled in a four-page order that the sentencing date originally scheduled for Sept. 18 would be moved to Nov. 26.
The case centers on a $130,000 payment by Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen to stop porn star Stormy Daniels from speaking before the 2016 presidential election about an alleged one-night stand she had with Trump years ago. After Trump won the election, Cohen was repaid in monthly installments.
Trump asked Judge Juan Merchant in mid-July to dismiss the case and vacate his guilty verdict in light of a Supreme Court ruling that granted the former president “presumptive immunity” for official conduct while in office.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office responded that the ruling had nothing to do with the hush money case and would not support vacating the jury's verdict even if it did apply.
The Supreme Court's ruling on July 1 has prompted Merchin to postpone Trump's sentencing originally scheduled for July 11 by more than two months.
Trump's lawyers have repeatedly sought to have Merchin recused from the case. They accuse him of political bias before and during the trial, in large part because his adult daughter works for a political firm whose clients include prominent Democrats such as President Joe Biden.
Two requests for recusal were rejected after a silent review before the trial, which began in mid-April and ended in late May. Trump was found guilty of 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records.
On August 13, the Supreme Court denied Trump's third recusal request, saying one of his arguments – an attack on the still-standing gag order that restricted some of Trump's speech related to the case – “only It was nothing more than an attempt to express dissatisfaction with the incident,” the court ruled.
A day later, the Trump team urged Merchant to delay sentencing until after the Nov. 5 election. “Sentencing is currently scheduled to occur after early voting begins in the presidential election,” they noted in a court filing.
They argued that delaying the sentencing date would “reduce, if not eliminate, questions about the integrity of future proceedings.”
Trump also tried unsuccessfully to move the hush-money case to federal court. Trump's lawyers asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to suspend a U.S. District Court order sending the case back to New York state court.
Bragg's office told the appeals court in a letter Thursday that Murchin has said he will share his decision on Friday on whether to delay Trump's sentencing date.
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