Trump lawyer argues for post-election verdict in hush money trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is asking the judge in his New York criminal case to postpone his sentencing until after the presidential election in November in exchange for hush money.

In a letter published on Thursday, a lawyer for the former president and current Republican candidate pointed out that Trump's sentencing, scheduled for September 18 – about seven weeks before Election Day – would amount to election interference.

Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche wrote that a delay would also give Trump time to consider next steps after trial judge Juan M. Merchan is expected to rule on Sept. 16 on the defense's motion to overturn the verdict and dismiss the lawsuit over the U.S. Supreme Court's July ruling on presidential immunity.

“There is no reason to continue to be so hasty,” Blanche wrote.

Blanche sent the letter to Merchan on Wednesday after the judge rejected the defense's recent request that he recuse himself from the case.

In the letter, Blanche reiterated the defense's argument that the judge had a conflict of interest because his daughter worked as a political adviser to the Democrats, including to Kamala Harris when she was running for the 2020 presidential nomination. Harris is now running against Trump.

By postponing sentencing until after that election, “the court would reduce, if not eliminate, questions about the integrity of future proceedings,” Blanche wrote.

Election Day is November 5, but early voting is possible in many states. In some states, the trial is scheduled to begin a few days before or after Trump's scheduled sentencing on September 18.

Merchan, who has said he is confident he can remain fair and impartial, did not immediately comment on the delay request.

The Manhattan district attorney's office, which prosecuted Trump's case, declined to comment.

Trump was convicted in May of falsifying his company's records to cover up a 2016 deal in which he paid porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged sexual experience with him in 2006. Prosecutors described the payment as part of a Trump-directed effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him during his first campaign.

Trump says all the stories are false, the business records are not, and the case was a political maneuver designed to harm his current campaign. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a Democrat.

Trump's defense argued that the payments were actually payments for legal work and were therefore correctly categorized.

Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years in prison. Other possible penalties include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge, which would force Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional penalties. Trump is the first ex-president to be convicted of a crime.

Trump has announced that he will appeal, but this can only happen once the verdict is final.

In an earlier letter, Merchan had set September 18 as the date for “imposition of sentence or further action as appropriate.”

In his letter requesting a delay, Blanche argued that rushing the September 16 immunity decision to a verdict two days later was unfair to Trump.

To prepare for sentencing, Blanche argued, prosecutors will make their sentencing recommendations while Merchan is still considering whether to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. If Merchan rules against Trump in the case of dismissal, he will need “sufficient time to consider and pursue state and federal appeal options,” Blanche said.

The Supreme Court's immunity ruling curbs the prosecution of former presidents for official acts and limits prosecutors' ability to use official acts as evidence that a president's unofficial actions were illegal. Trump's lawyers argue that, given the ruling, jurors in the hush-money trial should not have heard evidence such as former White House aides' descriptions of how the then-president reacted to news coverage of the Daniels deal.