- Donald Trump is using his broad new immunity powers to fight his hush-money conviction.
- Sentencing is set to be pushed back to September 18, as both sides argue over a possible retrial.
Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday agreed to delay Donald Trump's hush-money sentencing, saying they need time to fight his efforts to overturn his conviction in the wake of Monday's Supreme Court immunity ruling.
The sentencing judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, quickly agreed to push sentencing to September 18, but only if Trump's conviction survived this latest challenge.
"The matter is adjourned to September 18, 2024, at 10:00 AM for the imposition of sentence, if such is still necessary, or other proceedings," Merchan wrote.
"Although we believe defendant's arguments to be without merit, we do not oppose his request for leave to file" a challenge to the May 30 conviction, prosecutors wrote earlier Tuesday in a letter to Merchan.
The defense has asked Merchan's permission to file a formal challenge to his conviction by July 10, just one day before Trump's original July 11 sentencing date.
Trump is set to be formally named the GOP's presidential nominee at the Republican National Convention, which kicks off on July 15 — an event that would've been marred by his sentencing four days prior.
Prosecutors say they'll need weeks to fight this latest hurdle.
"We respectfully request a deadline of July 24, 2024 — two weeks after defendant's requested deadline — to file and serve a response" to Trump's arguments, prosecutors wrote Merchan on Tuesday.
Merchan agreed to a July 10 deadline for the defense to submit its challenge to Trump's conviction and a July 24 deadline for prosecutors to file their response.
The judge said he would issue a written decision on September 6 regarding whether the case should be retried.
How Trump intends to fight his hush-money conviction
Trump is fighting his hush-money conviction one day after the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision granting former presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
The landmark decision found that presidents are presumptively immune from prosecution for "official acts."
But the decision goes further, saying that a former president's official acts cannot be used against them, even in an otherwise legally proper criminal prosecution.
Trump sees this ruling as a possible way out of his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a hush-money payment he made to a porn star in the month leading up to the 2016 election.
Monday's SCOTUS decision "confirmed the defense position that DANY should not have been permitted to offer evidence at trial of President Trump's official acts," Todd Blanche, Trump's lead defense attorney, wrote the judge in a letter released Tuesday.
"Because of the complexity of the issues presented, President Trump does not object to an adjournment of the July 11, 2024 sentencing date in order to allow adequate time for full briefing, oral argument, and a decision," Blanche wrote.
Trump's team had raised the then pending SCOTUS immunity decision to Merchan in March in a failed effort to delay the trial or preclude any evidence involving official acts.
"In that filing, we objected to anticipated testimony from certain potential witnesses, evidence of President Trump's social media posts and public statements, and a 2018 filing with the Office of Government Ethics," Blanche wrote.
Read the defense letter describing why the Supreme Court should invalidate Trump's conviction here.