Attorneys for former President Donald Trump asked the New York judge overseeing his sentencing later this month to postpone the date or any “substantiate orders,” citing activity in Trump’s separate federal case.
The former president in May was convicted by a jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Judge Juan Merchan set a July 11 sentencing date but later postponed it to Sept. 18. The judge will decide on Sept. 16 Trump’s request to set aside the jury’s verdict based on immunity claims.
The attorneys made reference to special counsel Jack Smith’s reworked indictment in Trump’s election interference case issued in response to a U.S. Supreme Court opinion in July that found presidents are immune from prosecution over their official acts.
“There is no good reason to sentence President Trump prior to November 5,” the letter stated.
Trump’s lawyers said the sentencing is on a “needlessly accelerated timeline” compared to other special counsel-related cases that are addressing similar issues.
The special counsel’s office received a superseding indictment from a “new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case,” the letter stated.
Trump last week asked a federal court in Manhattan to take up his state criminal case after the Supreme Court’s decision, adding that the state court should not sentence him until that issue is resolved.
Trump’s attorneys argued in the letter to Merchan that his court should not make any “substantiate orders” until the federal court renders its decision to move the case.
A notice posted on the federal court’s docket on Aug. 31 showed that the request was rejected as “deficient.” The court said it sent back the filing because attorneys did not include written permission from prosecutors or the court and failed to meet other requirements.
In May, Trump became the first current or former president to be convicted on felony charges. A jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to allegedly cover up payments to an adult film performer during the 2016 campaign, which Trump has denied.
