In a major relief to former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump, a judge agreed Friday to postpone his sentencing in his hush money case until after the November election.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan delayed Trump’s sentencing until November 26, several weeks after the final votes are cast in the presidential election.
Earlier, it had been scheduled for September 18, much before the presidential polls scheduled to be held on November 5.
Trump’s lawyers pressed for the delay on multiple fronts. They argued that sentencing the former president and current Republican nominee in the thick of his campaign to retake the White House would amount to election interference, as reported by the newspaper.
They also argued that it would provide the former US President with enough time to weigh his next steps before Merchan's forthcoming ruling on his appeal to reverse the conviction due to the US Supreme Court's landmark decision on presidential immunity.
The Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling, pertaining to a separate criminal case Donald Trump faces, remarked that 'presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for their official acts, and that evidence of presidents' official actions cannot be used to help prove criminal cases involving unofficial actions'.
In the first-ever criminal trial against a former or a current US President, Donald Trump was convicted of falsifying official records to cover up his then-lawyer's $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual intercourse she had with the former President a decade back. However, Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations and vowed appeal the verdict once he is sentenced.
Meanwhile, the US Presidential race is set to witness a contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Several poll surveys have predicted a bottleneck competition between the two.
