Trump hush money sentencing delayed until September after Supreme Court win

The Supreme Court’s shock decision to grant US presidents partial immunity has now had an impact on Donald Trump’s hush money trial.

In a big win for Donald Trump, the sentencing in his hush money case will be delayed until September, and may not happen at all, following the Supreme Court’s decision to grant former presidents partial immunity for decisions made while in office.

It will mean he won’t be sentenced until weeks before the election in November.

The former president was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments over his alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election.

He was due to be sentenced on July 11.

But New York prosecutors, who brought the case against Mr Trump, said they were open to delaying Mr Trump’s sentencing so Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the case, can examine the impact of the Supreme Cort ruling.

The United States’ top court ruled on Monday that Mr Trump enjoys some immunity from prosecution as a former president but only for “official” acts.

On Tuesday, Judge Merchan said he would make a decision about how the Supreme Court’s ruling could affect the hush money trial by September 6.

Sentencing would then take place on September 18, but only “if … still necessary”.

The sentencing in Donald Trump’s hush money trial could now be delayed. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Hours after the ruling was announced, Mr Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche said in a letter to the New York court that the immunity ruling vindicated Mr Trump’s position that he should not be judged for his “official acts,” and reiterated his call for the conviction to be quashed.

The payment to Ms Daniels occurred prior to Mr Trump entering the White House. However, the payments from Mr Trump to Michael Cohen to reimburse him fro the money he sent to Daniels happened after the inauguration.

Mr Trump’s lawyers are attempting to claim the payments were part of the President's official duties.

“Although we believe defendant’s arguments to be without merit, we do not oppose his request for leave to file and his putative request to adjourn sentencing,” Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg said in the filing on Monday.

It is the judge in the New York case who will ultimately decide any delay to the sentencing.

The conviction in New York in May made Trump the first former US president ever convicted of a crime.

Mr Trump, in posts on Truth Social, welcomed the Supreme Court immunity ruling, calling it a “big win for our Constitution and democracy”.

The ruling comes four months ahead of the presidential election in which Trump is the Republican candidate to take on Democrat Joe Biden.

Facing four criminal cases, Mr Trump has been doing everything in his power to delay the trials until after the election.

Rudy Giuliani, speaking during a press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC on November 19, 2020m was disbarred on July 2, 2024, for repeatedly making false statements about the 2020 presidential election. (Photo by MANDREL NGAN / AFP)

Rudy Giuliani disbarred as lawyer

Also on Tuesday, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani was disbarred for repeatedly making false statements about the 2020 presidential election lost by Mr Trump.

The sanction of the 80-year-old Giuliani, who spearheaded Trump’s legal efforts to overturn his election defeat, was handed down by a state appeals court in New York.

Giuliani “repeatedly and intentionally made false statements … concerning the 2020 Presidential election, in which he baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process,” the court said.

“In so doing, respondent not only deliberately violated some of the most fundamental tenets of the legal profession, but he also actively contributed to the national strife that has followed the 2020 Presidential election, for which he is entirely unrepentant.”

Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December after being ordered by a jury to pay $148 million ($A222m) in damages for defaming two Georgia poll workers with false claims they engaged in election fraud.

The former New York mayor has also been indicted on racketeering charges in Georgia along with Mr Trump and others for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state.

Originally published as Trump hush money sentencing delayed until September after Supreme Court win