If the current schedule holds up, Donald Trump’s sentencing trial for the hush-money case will be on September 18.
That date falls right between the presidential debates, around the same time that Harris’s bump from the convention will start to die down.
The Trump campaign knows this, which is why Trump’s defense team is now trying to have the sentencing hearing pushed back until after the election, claiming anything else is election interference.
Delay the Hearing
Realistically, Donald Trump should not see any jail time from this case, but we all know “normalcy” has been tossed out the window during this election cycle.
Trump is a first-time offender, and 99/100 of these cases would have resulted in a plea deal resulting in some type of fine, penalty, back taxes, and a public admonishment.
If Judge Merchan wants to make an example of Trump, he could easily give him a sentence that would put Trump in jail for the rest of his life, but that would also make it easier to overturn on appeal based on previous cases.
There is no harm in pushing this sentencing hearing back, with Trump’s team arguing, “The Court should adjourn any sentencing in this case, though one should not be necessary because dismissal and vacatur of the jury’s verdicts are required based on Presidential immunity, until after the 2024 Presidential election.
“Sentencing is currently scheduled to occur after the commencement of early voting in the Presidential election.
“By adjourning sentencing until after the election — which is of paramount importance to the entire nation, including tens of millions of people who do not share the views of Authentic, its executives, and its clients — the Court would reduce, even if not eliminate, issues regarding the integrity of any future proceedings.”
Trump’s attorneys concluded, “Setting aside naked election-interference objectives, there is no valid countervailing reason for the Court to keep the current sentencing date on the calendar. There is no basis for continuing to rush.
“Accordingly, we respectfully request that any sentencing, if one is needed, be adjourned until after the Presidential election.”
The question here is if Merchan wants to stick it to Trump or be reasonable.
Merchan knows that if he moves forward with sentencing, he is giving Trump a ready-made excuse if Trump loses the election, but he also knows this would appear to be favoritism for a presidential candidate that would not be given to anyone else.
Your guess is as good as mine on this one, but the mystery will be solved soon enough.
