In May, former President Donald Trump made history…again. A jury in New York found the former host of The Apprentice guilty of 34 felony charges connected to an alleged “hush money” payment made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 Presidential Election.
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” the presumptive Republican nominee said after he stormed out of the courtroom.
“The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people. They know what happened, and everyone knows what happened here.”
Initially, Judge Juan Merchan was scheduled to sentence the guilty party on September 11. However, the judge has accepted a motion to delay the sentence until September 18 instead.
“The People’s request regardrng the sentencing recommendation was granted yesterday. Defendant’s request to hle a CPL S 330.30 motion byJuly 70,2024, is granted. The People’s request for a deadline of July 24,2024, to file a resPonse to the motion is also granted,” Merchan wrote.
“The July 1.1,2024, sentencing date is therefore vacated. The Court’s decision will be tendered off-calendar on September 6, 2024 and the matter is adjourned to September 18, 2024, at 10:00 AM for the imposition of sentence, if such is still necessary, ot other proceedings.”
Moving forward, Trump is pushing to have the judge overturn his conviction in the criminal case. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court determined the convicted felon cannot be charged for actions related to his core duties as President. Now, Trump and his legal team are working to use the Supreme Court’s ruling to eliminate as many of his legal charges as possible.
“[T]he Trump decision confirmed the defense position that [the district attorney] should not have been permitted to offer evidence at trial of President Trump’s official acts,” attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote.
However, this isn’t the first time that Trump and his attorneys have attempted to make this argument about this particular case. In 2023, his attorneys argued that his “hush money” payments were made within the scope of his presidential duties in an attempt to move the case from state to federal jurisdiction. Ultimately, it failed and the case remained in New York.
“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was purely a personal item of the president — a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein replied.
“Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president’s official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the president’s official duties.”
