Merchan described the run-up to the November 5 presidential election as a “special time.”
“We are now in a place fraught with complexities that make the requirements for a sentencing hearing, if necessary, difficult to implement,” he wrote.
Decision postponed
“This is not a decision the court makes lightly, but it is a decision this court believes best advances the interests of justice,” the judge wrote.
Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, was tried in New York and charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford) ahead of the 2016 presidential election on May 30. The New York Times found Trump guilty of all 34 alleged violations of the law.
“There should be no convictions in this witch hunt by the Manhattan District Attorney. As ordered by the United States Supreme Court, this case, along with all other smears about Harris-Biden, should be dismissed,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told Newsweek after the ruling was issued.
The Supreme Court ruled in a landmark July 1 decision that presidents are entitled to broad immunity for their official actions while in office. But prosecutors say the ruling has no impact on the New York case, arguing that Trump took actions related to the case in his private capacity.
The former president has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. He and his supporters say the New York lawsuit and all other charges and legal actions against him are politically motivated. They claim the cases are an attempt by Democrats to damage his presidential campaign.
“There is no good reason to delay Trump’s sentencing any further. He will not be sent directly to prison and he will be able to appeal his sentence immediately, so there is no threat of irreparable harm,” Dave Aronberg, Palm Beach County’s state’s attorney, told Newsweek in a statement prior to Merchan’s ruling.
Trump could face up to four years in prison if convicted. Many legal experts, however, believe it is more likely that Trump will be sentenced to supervised probation or a shorter prison term. Imprisoning the former president would create significant logistical challenges because he is entitled to Secret Service protection for the rest of his life.
“When Trump is no longer a candidate for office and loses the election, it will be a million times easier for Judge Merchan to sentence him to prison,” former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirshner, an MSNBC legal analyst and outspoken Trump critic, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after Merchan’s ruling.
On August 29, Trump’s legal team attempted to move the gag order to federal court under the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected the request on Tuesday. This was the second time Hellerstein has rejected Trump’s request to move.
The judgment said: “Nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my earlier conclusion that the payments [tamtych] money were private and unofficial activities outside the limits of executive power.”
Text published in the American magazine “Newsweek”. Title, lead and subtitles by the editors of “Newsweek Polska”.
