Donald Trump notches up another win as New York court delays hush money sentencing to September

Donald Trump won't be sentenced until Sept 18 due to the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity verdict as Nancy Pelosi asks if Biden’s debate performance was ‘an episode or a condition’.

Donald Trump attends his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. Picture: AFP.

Donald Trump’s July 11 sentencing over his hush-money conviction has been pushed back to late September, just weeks before the presidential election, after the ­Supreme Court’s decision to grant former presidents partial immunity from prosecution.

In a letter to judge Juan Merchan, the Manhattan District ­Attorney’s office on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) said it did not oppose delaying sentencing while the court weighed up whether the Supreme Court’s verdict affected the case. The judge proposed a sentencing date of September 18.

The Supreme Court’s decision to exempt “official acts” of a ­president from prosecution has thrown into doubt all four outstanding criminal charges against Mr Trump, including state and federal charges related to 2020 election interference.

“Although we believe the ­defendant’s arguments to be without merit, we do not oppose his request for leave to file and his putative request to adjourn sentencing pending determination of his motion,” prosecution lawyer Joshua Steinglass wrote.

In May a Manhattan jury found Mr Trump guilty of 34 felony charges of falsifying business records, which could lead to a ­potential jail term for the first former president in US history to be convicted of a crime.

“Under Trump, this official acts evidence should never have been put before the jury,” the former president’s lawyers wrote in a letter made public on Tuesday, making the most of a six-three Supreme Court ruling that has divided legal experts.

The prospect of another delay was a setback for Democrats who had hoped a conviction and ­potentially a jail term for the former president would undermine his public support at a time the ruling party is in crisis over whether to push Joe Biden to stand aside after his performance against Mr Trump in last week’s debate.

Mr Biden on Tuesday said ­relentless international travel was to blame for his poor debate performance, adding “it’s not an excuse, but an explanation”. Mr Biden said he “wasn’t very smart” for “travelling around the world a couple times … shortly before the debate. I didn’t listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep on stage.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 84, on Tuesday said it was “essential” now for the President to do “not one, maybe two” interviews without teleprompters to prove to voters he was still up to another four years as president.

“I think it’s a legitimate question to say, is this an episode or is this a condition?” she told MSNBC, referring to a debate performance that led to widespread speculation Mr Biden would or should step aside.

Fresh polling since the debate showed Vice-President Kamala Harris doing better against Mr Trump in a hypothetical match up than Mr Biden, and also better than other possible Democrat replacements including Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and California’s Gavin Newsom.

Mr Trump led Ms Harris 47 per cent to 45 per cent according to a CNN poll of over 1200 respondents conducted after last Thursday’s debate, but he polled six percentage points ahead of Mr Biden.

Kamala Harris isnow polling better against Donald Trump than Joe Biden is. Picture: CNN.

The President refused to take questions after public remarks at the White House on Monday evening in which he criticised the Supreme Court’s immunity verdict. After a period of introspection in the days immediate after the debate, Democrat congressmen on Tuesday began to publicly air their misgivings about supporting a Biden re-election bid too.

Texas Democrat Lloyd Doggett said: “Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory – too great a risk to assume that what could not be turned around in a year, what was not turned around in the debate, can be turned around now”. His colleague Mike Quigley from Illinois told CNN the party needed “to be honest with ourselves”.

“I won’t go beyond that out of my respect and understanding President Joe Biden, a very proud person who has served us extraordinarily well for 50 years. But it’s his decision. I just want him to appreciate at this time just how much it impacts, not just his race, but all the other races coming in November.”

Ms Whitmer has insisted to Mr Biden’s re-election campaign that she is not angling for his job, despite feverish speculation about her as a possible successor and infighting among Democrats nervous that the president has blown his chances.

Ms Whitmer called Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chairwoman, to say she was not behind a “draft Gretch” movement.

Were Mr Biden to withdraw, Ms Whitmer, 52, is considered a favourite with party activists for the way she comfortably won re-election in 2022. She was credited with helping the Democrats take full control of the crucial swing state’s legislature for the first time since 1983.

Top campaign officials, including chair Ms Dillon, briefed donors on a call on Monday evening to offer reassurance. People familiar with the call said the campaign stressed that Mr Biden knows he needs to do better after the debate and that they plan to have him out more. They pledged to stay the course, arguing that voters still care about issues like abortion and democracy and don’t want a return to Mr Trump.

Additional reporting Dow Jones

With Dow Jones