By Ben Kochman and Kyle Schnitzer | New York Post
Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money criminal case was delayed until after the November election — with a Manhattan judge finding Friday the decision “best advances the interests of justice.”
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan’s bombshell ruling pushing the Sept. 18 sentencing to Nov. 26 means voters won’t know by Election Day the fate of the former president, who faces possible jail time in the case.
In a four-page decision, Merchan wrote he was delaying the sentencing in a bid to combat “unwarranted” claims that his decision on Trump’s punishment could be based on politics rather than the law, so close to the election.
“The imposition of sentence will be adjourned to avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching Presidential election in which the defendant is a candidate,” Merchan wrote.
“The court is a fair, impartial and apolitical institution,” the judge added. “The members of this jury served diligently on this case, and their verdict must be respected and addressed in a manner that is not diluted by the enormity of the upcoming presidential election.”
Trump had asked the judge to adjourn the sentencing, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, did not oppose the request.
Trump, 78, faces up four years in prison after being convicted of 34 counts of felony falsifying business records — but legal experts say that he’s more likely to get probation or community service. Any sentence would have also likely been paused pending Trump’s appeal, experts say.
The case centered on Trump’s $130,000 payout to porn star Stormy Daniels in what jurors at trial found was a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election.
A jury of 12 Manhattanites convicted Trump, 78, of 34 counts of felony falsifying business records tied to his company’s coverup of the Daniels payoff while he was president in 2018.
He had originally been set to face sentencing on July 10 — but Merchan pushed the date back to Sept. 18 after July’s US Supreme Court ruling immunizing a president for “official acts” taken in office.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that the hush money trial was “tainted” by evidence jurors heard from his White House stint, including the then-president admitting that he was relieved that Daniels’ account of having sex with him while he was married only came out after the 2016 election.
