After being convicted on May 30th, presidential candidate Donald Trump has fought to delay his sentencing until after the November 5th elections in the United States, and finally, he succeeded, as it was revealed this Friday that Manhattan judge, Juan Merchán, considered his request.
The Republican was found guilty of 34 charges for falsifying commercial and trade records to conceal the payment of money he made to the porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 in order to silence her about their sexual encounter.
The 34 charges involve the manipulation of 11 invoices, 12 vouchers, and 11 checks with monthly payments from Trump to Cohen to cover the $130,000 payment he had already made in advance. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office alleged that the issue was not in giving money in secret (which is not a crime), but in all the document manipulations to make that payment appear legal for other purposes.
After the conviction, the judge set the sentencing for July 11, then Donald Trump's lawyers managed to postpone it to September 18, and they continued to battle, as their goal was to have it scheduled after the presidential elections in the United States, and they succeeded, as Merchán finally set it for November 26.
The judge stated that he was delaying the sentence "to avoid any appearance (no matter how unjustified) that the proceeding has been affected or seeks to affect the upcoming presidential elections in which the Defendant is a candidate... The Court is a fair, impartial, and apolitical institution."
Donald Trump and his lawyers alleged “electoral interference”
In his request to delay the sentencing until after the elections, Donald Trump and his legal team argued that doing so before could be seen as electoral interference, as reported by The Mirror.
The legal representatives of the Republican candidate stated that by postponing the sentence, it would give them time for their next steps.