(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Judge Juan Merchan rescheduled the sentencing in former President Donald Trump’s porn-star case until Sept. 18 after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Trump’s favor saying he was protected by “presidential immunity” for many of the actions he took during his first term as president.
With the presumptive GOP nominee’s odds of winning the November election at an all-time high following last week’s debate—and a string of legal victories to bolster him in his lawfare battles—the convicted felon has begun looking more like the once and future president.
Biden is done. Bet on it. Too many prominent Democrats have suggested he’s brain damaged. They can’t walk that back. They have to remove him, and they will. The only question is when. If they’re smart, they’ll do it immediately. If Kamala’s going to be the nominee, she might as…
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 2, 2024
Democrats appeared fractured and in disarray as to whether they had the will and ability to attempt to oust a defiant President Joe Biden, whom many now consider utterly unfit to lead the country.
On Monday, the Supreme Court cleared the path for Trump, ruling that his political rivals could not prosecute him for actions he took while president to investigate vote fraud during the 2020 race if he were acting in his official capacity as president by doing so.
The case now goes back to the D.C. District Court, where Judge Tanya Chutkan is unlikely to see any sort of forward motion on a trial before the November election.
A Trump victory would likely end the federal lawfare effort altogether, as he would appoint an attorney general who would fire special counsel Jack Smith and withdraw any pending Justice Department cases against the president.
Likewise, Trump’s attorney say the high court’s ruling in Trump v. U.S. determined that the prosecution team in Manhattan violated the U.S. Constitution by using actions Trump took in an official capacity as president to make their dubious case against him.
Specifically, they referred to checks he signed while serving as president and a meeting Trump held with his former attorney—turned star prosecution witness—Michael Cohen at the White House, according to NBC News.
Trump’s attorneys promptly filed a motion to overturn his recent conviction and sought to brief Merchan on the implications of the new Supreme Court decision.
“The verdicts in this case violate the presidential immunity doctrine and create grave risks of ‘an Executive Branch that cannibalizes itself,'” defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote,” according to ABC News. “After further briefing on these… it will be manifest that the trial result cannot stand.”
Attorneys in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg signaled that they had no objections to the motion.
NEW – The Manhattan DA’s office said Tuesday it would not oppose Trump’s request to file a motion arguing his conviction should be tossed, a move that will almost certainly delay Trump’s sentencing, which is currently set for July 11. Reporting w/ @AaronKatersky & @PCCharalambous pic.twitter.com/z6VzU8L2ug
— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) July 2, 2024
They noted that the request to file their papers by July 10 was “necessarily a request to adjourn the sentencing hearing” scheduled for the following day, during which Merchan was to decide whether to send Trump to prison or offer one in a range of lesser punishments more befitting the crime.
“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,” they wrote.
The prosecutors further requested a date two weeks after the motion to file a response.
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.
