CNN
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A New York judge ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump will not be sentenced until September on a business fraud conviction, following a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity on Monday.
The sentencing delay means the former president will likely avoid concrete punishment for his felony conviction over the summer.At the same time, Trump’s election bid has been bolstered by President Joe Biden’s debate missteps that have Democrats wondering whether to replace their candidate.
Trump’s sentence was scheduled for July 11. Judge Juan Marchan said the former president would be sentenced on Sept. 18 “if still necessary.”
The announcement underscores the broader implications of the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday, in which the court’s conservative wing ruled that the president has absolute immunity for “core” presidential functions.
The ruling casts doubt on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election interference charges against Trump and now makes a trial before the November election all but impossible. The ruling could also have an impact on the prosecution of Trump in the classified documents and Georgia election interference cases.
Trump became the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a felony in May when a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal trial over hush money payments.
Trump’s legal team filed a letter on Monday challenging the former president’s conviction after the Supreme Court ruled that presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for major official acts.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office agreed Tuesday that sentencing should be delayed.
“While we believe that defendants’ arguments are without merit, we do not object to defendants’ request for leave to file and their putative request to postpone judgment pending a decision on their motions. We respectfully request that defendants file and serve their answer by July 24, 2024, two weeks after the deadline they have requested,” the district attorney’s office said in a letter Tuesday.
The former president’s lawyers argued that the ruling bolsters their position that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg should not have allowed evidence about Trump’s “official duties” at trial, and that as a result the jury’s guilty verdict should be thrown out.
Will Scharf, an attorney representing President Trump in the immunity lawsuit, told CNN on Monday night that the Supreme Court’s decision will “certainly” affect the hush money lawsuit.
“The Supreme Court has been clear that when a president’s conduct is outside the scope of his official responsibility – conduct that is presumed to be immune from prosecution – evidence of those conduct cannot be used to try what are essentially private conduct,” he told “The Source.”
In a letter Monday, Trump’s lawyers pointed to evidence introduced at trial from Trump’s time in office, including testimony from former White House communications director Hope Hicks, tweets Trump sent while in office and records of phone calls involving Trump while in office.
04:35 – Source: CNN
Biden responds to Supreme Court immunity ruling
“under TrumpConsistent with our arguments before and at trial, the Supreme Court held that evidence of official conduct should not have been presented to the jury. Trump “President Trump cannot be prosecuted for the exercise of core Constitutional powers and, at a minimum, is entitled to a presumption of immunity from prosecution with respect to all official conduct,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
“The ruling in this case violates the principle of presidential immunity and creates a serious risk that the ‘executive branch will eat itself,'” they added.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
