Former President Donald Trump will not receive sentencing for the guilty verdict in the highly publicized hush money trial until after the 2024 presidential election.
What Happened: Judge Juan Merchan delayed until Nov. 26 the sentencing for Trump's hush money trial that found the former president guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The sentencing was previously scheduled for Sept. 18, happening ahead of the 2024 election, which sees Trump competing against Vice President Kamala Harris in his bid to return to the White House.
Merchan said Friday that the sentence postponement comes to "avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching presidential election in which the Defendant is a candidate," as reported by the Associated Press.
"The Court is a fair, impartial, and apolitical institution," Merchan added.
The delay comes as Trump's lawyers have pushed for sentencing to be after the 2024 election and that holding a date before the Nov. 5 event would be election interference. Trump's lawyers have also said that a delay could allow more time to consider dismissing the case due to the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity.
Merchan said Friday that he would make a ruling on the defense's request to dismiss the case on Nov. 12.
On Tuesday, a federal judge rejected a request by Trump to have the U.S. District Court take the case away from Merchan's state court, which could lead to the verdict being overturned and the case dismissed. Trump plans to appeal this federal court ruling.
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Why It's Important: In May, Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
During the multi-week trial, Trump spoke publicly about the trial being a witch hunt and election interference.
Trump faces up to four years for each of the 34 guilty rulings for falsifying business records. The former president is expected to receive lesser punishments like probation or fines due to having no criminal record.
The former president said he would appeal the hush money trial verdict, but that can not be done until after sentencing takes place.
Sentencing was originally scheduled for July 11 before it was delayed to September, and now, November.
A sentence of probation or home confinement could have made campaigning for the 2024 election tricky and lead to more cries of election interference from Trump, his lawyers and his campaign team.
Trump would still be allowed to run for president and maintain control of his media company Trump Media & Technology Group DJT if sentenced to prison, as Benzinga previously reported.
DJT Price Action: Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group are down 2.01% to $17.05 on Friday afternoon. The stock is often volatile related to events for the former president.
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