Hush money trial

Sentence against Trump: announcement postponed

Donald Trump at the trial

(Bild: AP/DailyMail.com/Curtis Means)

The sentencing in the New York hush money trial against Donald Trump has now been postponed. Trump had been found guilty of all 34 charges in the trial for covering up a hush money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels.

"If still necessary", the sentencing will be postponed to September 18 at 10:00 a.m. local time, according to a document published by Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday. This is to allow the Supreme Court's ruling on Monday, which granted Trump criminal immunity for "official" acts during his presidency, to be taken into account.

The sentence against Trump will therefore be announced seven weeks before the US presidential election on November 5. In the trial on May 30, the jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of covering up a hush money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels by falsifying business documents. This makes Trump the first ex-US president in history to be convicted of criminal charges.

Although the hush money payment to Daniels herself - which neither side disputes - was not illegal, Trump is alleged to have manipulated documents when reimbursing the amount to his then lawyer Michael Cohen in order to conceal the true reason for the transaction.

(Bild: AFP, instagram.com, stock.adobe.com, krone.at-Grafik)

Shortly after the Supreme Court's decision on Monday that Trump is entitled to immunity for "official" acts during his presidency, his lawyer Todd Blanche wrote to the judge asking for permission to challenge the conviction and for the sentencing hearing to be suspended.

Prison sentence considered unlikely
A prison sentence for the 78-year-old, who wants to run against incumbent Joe Biden in a rematch of the 2020 presidential election in November, is considered unlikely. As this is the first time Trump has been convicted under criminal law and it is not a violent offense, experts expect a suspended sentence or fine.

Judge Juan Merchan presided over the trial against former President Donald Trump in New York.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

However, Trump's lawyers are seeking a complete annulment of the guilty verdict and obviously see themselves strengthened in their efforts by the Supreme Court's decision on Trump's immunity and that of US presidents in general.

The hush money of 130,000 dollars (worth around 122,000 euros today) to Stormy Daniels was paid before the 2016 election, i.e. before Trump took office in the White House. However, it was paid by Trump's lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, who, according to the indictment, was later reimbursed the money by Trump when he was already president.

Supreme Court did not grant Trump complete immunity
However, the Supreme Court did not grant Trump complete immunity for all of his actions during his time as president. The court expressly excluded from protection against prosecution those actions that were "unofficial" - i.e. private - in nature.

The Supreme Court's decision also referred specifically to another case, namely the charges against Trump before a federal court for his attempts to retroactively overturn his 2020 election defeat against Biden.