By Lawyers for Donald Trump have asked a New York judge to delay the former president’s sentencing date in his criminal hush money case until after the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The Republican presidential nominee’s legal team argued that pushing Trump’s sentencing past the election would “reduce, even if not eliminate, issues regarding the integrity of any future proceedings,” in a letter obtained by NBC News.
They also claimed that there was no reason for New York Judge Juan Merchan to stick to the current sentencing schedule, aside from “naked election-interference objectives.”
“There is no basis for continuing to rush,” read the letter from attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, dated Wednesday. “Accordingly, we respectfully request that any sentencing, if one is needed, be adjourned until after the Presidential election.”
Trump is currently scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 18, about seven weeks before Election Day.
Trump was originally set to be sentenced on July 11, less than two months after a jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Merchan postponed the sentencing on July 2, after the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents are entitled to “presumptive immunity” from prosecution for all official acts they performed in office. The high court’s bombshell ruling prompted Trump’s legal team to file a motion seeking to vacate the hush money verdict. Merchan has yet to rule on that request.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office declined to comment on the Trump legal team’s latest request.
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