Instead of getting his sentencing out of the way in July, Trump will now be sentenced for his 34 felony convictions during the heart of the fall campaign in September.
On Monday, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling that Trump has some presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken to overturn results of the 2020 election, Trump’s attorneys sent a letter to Judge Merchan asking to him to “set aside the jury’s verdict” in his hush money case.
Judge Merchan, in his response, signaled to the parties that he would rule on Trump’s motion to set aside his conviction on Sept. 6.
He gave Trump until July 10 to submit papers and the DA’s office until July 24 to respond.
Sentencing had originally been scheduled for July 11, just days before Trump will claim the Republican nomination. Merchan has now set sentencing for Sept. 18 at 10 a.m. ET.
On the surface, this postponement looks like a win for Trump because the nation has been conditioned to view delays in the ex-president’s criminal proceedings as a win for the convicted.
However, since polling shows that the felony convictions hurt Trump with Independents and swing voters, the former president may have been better served by getting the sentencing over with in July before the party conventions while people are not paying attention and their thoughts are occupied with summer vacations.
As voters are paying attention and getting ready to vote, Trump is going to likely find himself in a Manhattan courtroom being sentenced for the felonies that he committed. The odds are that Trump will not successfully get the conviction set aside because his acts occurred before he was president.
The national stage that Donald Trump will occupy alone will occur eight days after the second presidential debate.
This is not ideal scheduling, and in a very close election, it could be a critical turning point in the race to determine who will be the next president.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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