The judge overseeing Donald J. Trump’s Manhattan criminal case plans to rule on Friday about whether to postpone Mr. Trump’s sentencing until after Election Day, a court filing shows.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers had asked the judge — Justice Juan M. Merchan, who presided over the former president’s seven-week trial this spring — to delay the sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept 18. Mr. Trump, the first American president to become a felon, faces up to four years in prison, though Justice Merchan is likely to impose a shorter sentence, or probation.
The request to postpone the punishment until after the election poses a predicament for Justice Merchan, a veteran judge who has resisted many of Mr. Trump’s stalling tactics. If the judge proceeds with the sentencing this month, Mr. Trump will accuse him of meddling in the election. But if he postpones it, Justice Merchan will undoubtedly face accusations that he put Mr. Trump’s political considerations above the rule of law.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers requested the delay in part to allow more time to challenge his conviction on charges that he had falsified records to cover up a hush-money payment to a porn star in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Mr. Trump’s lawyers also argued that it was improper for Mr. Trump to face sentencing so close to the Nov. 5 election, in which he will face off against Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.
On Thursday, Justice Merchan informed prosecutors and Mr. Trump’s lawyers that he intended to rule on Friday. The prosecutors, in turn, disclosed that timing in a separate filing in federal court, where Mr. Trump has tried but failed to move his case.
Justice Merchan has already rescheduled the sentencing once. It was originally set for July 11, but Justice Merchan pushed it back while he weighed Mr. Trump’s bid to overturn his conviction, an effort that hinges on the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision granting Mr. Trump broad immunity for official acts as president. Justice Merchan is scheduled to rule on the immunity issue on Sept. 16, just two days before sentencing, providing Mr. Trump with little runway to appeal, assuming the judge upholds the conviction.
Prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which brought the case, have argued that the Supreme Court’s decision has no bearing on Mr. Trump’s conviction and that it arose out of scandals unrelated to his White House duties. But they deferred to the judge on whether to delay his sentencing past Election Day.
Mr. Trump has recently made other attempts to stave off his sentencing. Last week, he sought to move his Manhattan case to federal court, citing the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling. But the judge rejected Mr. Trump’s argument that the case involved official acts as president, a decision Mr. Trump is appealing.
“Nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority,” the federal judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein, wrote in his opinion.
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