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NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s sentencing for his criminal conviction in Manhattan will be delayed until after Election Day, a judge ruled Friday, handing the former president a significant victory that will leave voters in the dark about his possible punishment, including a potential prison sentence, as they head to the polls.
The sentencing, previously scheduled for Sept. 18, is now set for Nov. 26.
“The Court is a fair, impartial and apolitical institution,” Justice Juan Merchan, the judge who oversaw the trial and is responsible for sentencing Trump, wrote in a letter to lawyers in the case. “Adjourning decision on the motion and sentencing, if such is required, should dispel any suggestion that the Court will have issued any decision or imposed sentence either to give an advantage to, or to create a disadvantage for, any political party and/or any candidate for any office.”
In mid-August, Trump asked Merchan to postpone the sentencing for the Republican presidential nominee’s conviction on falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star. Trump’s lawyers argued that he should be allowed time to weigh options for an appeal in response to the judge’s upcoming ruling on whether Trump’s conviction should be tossed out in light of the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision on presidential immunity.
Trump’s lawyers also pointed out his sentencing was set to take place after the start of early voting, suggesting the timing could interfere with the electoral process.
In response, prosecutors working for District Attorney Alvin Bragg said they would defer to Merchan’s discretion, acknowledging the potential for the immunity issue to complicate the process.
Trump has sought repeatedly to delay various elements of the trial process, including the trial itself, and in some cases he has succeeded. The sentencing was originally scheduled for July, but Merchan pushed it to September in order to weigh the immunity ruling.
Merchan’s decision to again delay the sentencing, this time until after November’s election, eliminates the only chance for a judge to impose punishment on Trump, including possible prison time, for a criminal conviction before Election Day. Though Trump faces criminal charges in four separate cases, only the hush money case has gone to trial. The other three cases, which have been bogged down in delays, may never reach trial at all — and if they do, it won’t be until well after the election.
Once Merchan does impose a sentence, Trump may not have to serve it until after the appeals process has been exhausted, which would take at least several months. And if he is elected president in November, his sentence almost certainly would be suspended while he’s in office.
