Washington: Former President Donald Trump's sentencing in the hush money case, which was scheduled for July 11, has now been postponed till September after the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that he had some immunity from criminal conviction as a former President. Trump was convicted on all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to an adult film star.
The postponement sets the sentencing for September 18, well after the Republican National Convention, where Trump is set formally to accept the party's nomination for president in this year's race. The convention runs from July 15 to 18. Trump's lawyers requested New York Judge Juan Merchan to set aside the guilty verdict and delay the sentencing in the hush money case to consider how the Supreme Court's ruling can affect the ruling.
Merchan pushed back the sentencing date after this so he can weigh the former US president's argument he should have been immune from prosecution under Monday's landmark Supreme Court ruling that presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for official acts. The sentencing is expected to come weeks before the November elections.
What is the hush money case?
A Manhattan jury on May 30 found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter until after the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Prosecutors said the Daniels payment was part of a broader scheme to buy the silence of people who might have gone public during the campaign with embarrassing stories alleging he had extramarital sex. Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels and was later reimbursed by Trump, whose company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses.
Trump faces an uphill battle getting the hush money conviction overturned, since much of the conduct at issue in the case predated his time in office. His lawyers have argued that prosecutors had placed "highly prejudicial emphasis on official-acts evidence". Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said Trump's argument was "without merit," but agreed to delay the sentencing to give him the chance to make his case.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years behind bars, although it is Trump's least consequential criminal indictment that is unlikely to hurt is chances at the White House. Other potential sentences include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge which would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment. Trump also became the first former president in US history to be convicted of a crime.
What did US Supreme Court say on presidential immunity?
In a landmark verdict, the US Supreme Court on Monday (local time) ruled that former President Donald Trump had some immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken while he was serving in the White House, diminishing the chances for a trial before the November election. The historic 6-3 ruling recognised any form of presidential immunity from prosecution for the first time that would further impact the upcoming election.
As per the court, presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for official acts and that evidence related to presidents' official actions cannot be used to help prove criminal cases involving unofficial actions. Chief Justice John Roberts said former presidents have "absolute" immunity with respect to their "core constitutional powers" and "at least a presumptive immunity" for actions within the "outer perimeter of his official responsibility".
The verdict also overturned a ruling by a federal appeals court in February, which said that Trump was not immune to prosecution for his alleged plots to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential elections, which threatened to bring him close to an unprecedented criminal trial. The court said that any executive immunity that would have shielded Trump during his tenure as the US president "no longer protects him against this prosecution".
(with inputs from agencies)
