NEW YORK (AP) – The judge in donald trumpTrump’s secret trial is pushing back the date for a key decision on presidential immunity until two days before Trump’s scheduled sentencing.
The immunity decision was due to be made on September 6th, with sentencing scheduled for September 18th. But then Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Juan M. Merchan last week to rule on their case first. renewed attempt to get judge to step aside from case.
In a letter made public Tuesday, Judge Juan M. Merchan postponed the ruling on immunity until September 16 — if it is still necessary, after he decides next week whether to recuse himself.
Merchan said the Republican presidential candidate is still expected to appear in court on September 18 for “the imposition of sentence or other proceedings as appropriate.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment. A request for comment was sent to prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers.
A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty in May of falsifying business records to hide a deal to pay porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. At the time, she was considering going public with the story of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade ago. before.
He denies her allegation, claims he did nothing wrong and says the case is politically motivated. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a Democrat.
Trump’s lawyers now say the Supreme Court’s July ruling decision on presidential immunity guarantees the overthrow of May Guilty verdict and dismissing the hush money case against Trump entirely. The defense also claims the trial was “contaminated” for evidence that should not have been allowed by the high court’s ruling, such as testimony from some Trump White House officials and tweets he sent while president in 2018.
The high court ruling restricts prosecutions of former presidents for official acts and restricts prosecutors from pointing to official acts as evidence that a commander in chief’s unofficial actions were illegal.
Manhattan District Attorney’s Office maintains that the opinion of the high court “has no relevance” in the case of silence because it involves unofficial acts from which the former president is not immune.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers last week asked Merchan for the third time to drop the case, saying his daughter’s work on Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign highlights questions about his ability to be impartial. Harris is now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.
Merchan rejected two previous recusal requests last year, saying the defense’s concerns were “hypothetical” and based on “insinuation” and “baseless speculation.”
But Trump lawyer Todd Blanche argued that Harris’ entry into the presidential race makes these questions “even more concrete” and said the judge did not address them in sufficient detail.
