Sentencing for former US president Donald Trump in his New York hush money trial was on Friday delayed until after November’s election, a win for the Republican presidential candidate as he battles US Vice President Kamala Harris in the knife-edge White House race.
Trump had been scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 18 for falsifying business records in a scheme to silence a porn star’s politically damaging story, but Judge Juan Merchan postponed it to Nov. 26 — three weeks after the Nov. 5 election, as requested by 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,” Merchan wrote.
Photo: AFP
The postponement comes as Trump and Democrat Harris prepare to face off on the debate stage on Tuesday in the already extraordinary presidential race.
Trump welcomed the sentencing delay, taking to his Truth Social platform to blast the case as a “witch hunt.”
“This case should be rightfully terminated,” he wrote.
Trump, 78, was convicted in May of 34 counts of doctoring business records to cover up hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to stop her from disclosing an alleged sexual encounter ahead of the 2016 election.
The twice-impeached ex-president was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.
That was delayed after the US Supreme Court ruled a former president has broad immunity from criminal prosecutions.
Trump’s lawyers asked that his New York conviction be dismissed following the immunity ruling, while Merchan said he would rule on the dismissal motion on Nov. 12.
Merchan said that Trump had asked for sentencing to be delayed “to avoid the potential ‘politically prejudicial’ impact that a public sentencing could have on him and his prospects in the upcoming election.”
Hours earlier, Trump was in New York delivering rambling remarks about his myriad legal problems, as he denied multiple women’s accusations of sexual harassment or assault.
“This is not the kind of publicity you like,” Trump said at Trump Tower, even as he spent an hour, unprompted, reminding voters of the accusations of sexual assault by various women including the writer E. Jean Carroll.
Trump’s detailed remarks on the cases were surprising, given that he needs to win over groups such as suburban women in the tight race against Harris, 59, who is aiming to become the nation’s first female president.
Trump was in court in New York earlier on Friday over the Carroll case, in which he has been ordered to pay her US$5 million in damages for sexual assault and defamation.
“I never met her. I never touched her,” Trump said, describing the case as “political interference.”
Harris for her part spoke to a Univision radio station, telling listeners “we need to turn the page on this Trump era.”
She earned a key endorsement on Friday — from Republican former US vice president Dick Cheney.
“There has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said.
His daughter Liz Cheney, a conservative former US congresswoman, publicly backed Harris this week, joining hundreds of other Republicans who like her father have put “country over party,” Harris campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said.
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