Donald Trump has second significant legal victory in as many days
Washington: Donald Trump’s historic sentencing over hush money payments used to sway the 2016 election has been delayed following the US Supreme Court’s explosive decision to grant him broad immunity from prosecution.
In another piece of good news for the former president, Judge Juan Merchan put off next week’s highly anticipated sentencing to September 18 – less than two months before the US election.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Detroit in mid-June. Credit: AP
Such a move means Trump will now be able to attend this month’s Republican National Convention – where he is expected to be named the GOP presidential nominee – without the shadow of a jail term or lesser non-custodial sentence hanging over him.
It is also a significant victory for Trump because the sentencing may be the only moment of criminal accountability he faces before the November 5 election, given his three other trials are unlikely to take place before polling day.
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The development comes after Trump was found guilty by a New York jury of 34 counts of falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal that could have derailed his chances of becoming president.
But on Monday (Tuesday AEST), the conservative justices on the Supreme Court ruled that presidents and ex-presidents should be immune from prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.
The extraordinary decision sent shockwaves across Democratic ranks, with Biden warning that it would allow Trump to act like a king if re-elected in November.
Meanwhile, the three liberal justices of the court broke ranks with their six conservative colleagues, warning that the majority decision would allow Trump to go so far as to order assassinations or military coups without criminal prosecution.
“The Supreme Court just handed imperial power to Donald Trump on a silver platter,” the Biden campaign added in a statement on Tuesday entitled “All Hail The King”.
“Trump’s hand-picked justices empowered him to do exactly what he’s been saying he wants: to open up a Pandora’s box of revenge and retribution against his enemies.”
Trump, however, said the decision represented a “high-level spanking” to special counsel Jack Smith, who had charged Trump for trying to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. This led him to seek immunity from the Supreme Court, where three of the six conservative justices were appointed by his administration.
Trump lawyer’s immediately seized on the Supreme Court’s decision to challenge the Republican’s New York conviction, arguing that it confirmed Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg should not have been able to offer evidence at trial concerning Trump’s official acts as president.
While much of the hush money trial centred on a scheme to “catch-and-kill” damaging stories about Trump’s infidelity before the 2016 election, some evidence related to his time in the Oval Office.
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This included the cheques Trump signed to reimburse his fixer, Michael Cohen, who paid porn star Stormy Daniels $US130,000 to silence news of an affair she had with Trump in 2006. Evidence was also given by Trump aides relating to his time as president, including by his former communications staffer, Hope Hicks.
On Tuesday, in response to the request for a delay, prosecutors from Bragg’s office said they would not object to a slight delay to assess the issue – even though they did not believe it has merit.
“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,” Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass wrote.
Merchan in turn approved the delay, saying he would issue a ruling related to the immunity decision on September 6. The sentence is scheduled to take place on September 18.
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