Trump’s sentencing in New York delayed until Sept. 18

NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s sentencing in his Manhattan criminal case has been delayed until Sept. 18 so that the former president can present new arguments that his conviction should be tossed out in light of Monday’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity.

The sentencing, which had been set for July 11, will now take place less than two months before Election Day.

In a letter to prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers , Justice Juan Merchan didn’t elaborate on the sentencing delay, but merely set a schedule for both parties to submit briefing on the immunity argument. It came shortly after prosecutors said they consented to the delay , even as they wrote that the argument was “without merit.”

The delay is the first practical fallout from the Supreme Court’s ruling declaring that former presidents have “absolute” immunity from criminal prosecution over actions that fall within their “core constitutional powers,” and that they are also entitled to immunity for many other “official” acts.

Though that ruling related to another of Trump’s criminal cases — special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of the former president for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election — Trump’s effort to apply it to the Manhattan case demonstrates its impact beyond the Smith prosecution.

It’s far from clear that Trump can convince Merchan that the immunity ruling should have any effect on the Manhattan verdict, which found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star. But the delay itself is something of a victory for Trump, who has consistently sought to drag out all of his cases . It postpones the sentencing, which had been set to take place days before the Republican National Convention, to the final stretch of the general election. The second presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 10, just over a week before Trump’s new sentencing date.

If he is elected in November, Trump is certain to argue that any criminal punishment should be suspended during his presidency.

The Manhattan case stemmed from a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in October 2016 — before Trump was elected president and before he was entitled to any presidential immunity. But he falsified the records connected to the payment while he was in office, and during the trial, prosecutors introduced other evidence about Trump’s conduct during his presidency, including social media messages sent from his official accounts.

Trump’s lawyers argued in a letter to Merchan that prosecutors should have been precluded from using evidence related to his official acts.

Defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote that in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, “it will be manifest that the trial result cannot stand.”

The maximum sentence for felony falsification of business records is four years in prison, though many legal experts believe a lesser punishment, such as probation or a fine, is more likely.