Trump postpones handing down sentences
Following the verdict concluding that Donald Trump paid hush money to a porn star, the ex-president is making efforts to postpone his sentencing. Lately, one of these attempts has fallen through. The former commander-in-chief now faces potential imprisonment for up to four years.
In a recent court hearing in the Southern District of New York, a judge declined Donald Trump's request to assume control of the case. Judge Alvin Hellerstein refused to consent to Trump's lawyers' petition for submitting documents, asserting that the former president's team had not provided sufficient evidence for a federal court to seize jurisdiction.
Trump advocated for the federal court to assume charge of the case, with his lawyers claiming that the prosecution on a state level infringed on the constitutional rights of the Republican presidential nominee and contradicted a landmark Supreme Court ruling concerning presidential immunity. With this move, Trump aimed to overturn his conviction and postpone the September 18 scheduled sentencing hearing.
Previously, Hellerstein had dismissed a similar petition by Trump to migrate the case to a federal court. Ultimately, the Supreme Court's ruling in late July did not impact Hellerstein's prior judgment that the hush money transactions with porn star Stormy Daniels were private, unofficial activities beyond the president's executive powers.
The recent Supreme Court verdict upheld the idea that former presidents retain absolute immunity from prosecution for acts taken while in office. Nevertheless, Trump was found guilty on all charges in the hush money case because these actions were committed prior to his presidency. Although a jail sentence for a guilty verdict is deemed improbable, Trump could still face up to four years in prison.
In an attempt to challenge his conviction, Donald Trump asked a judge in New York City to transfer his hush money case to a federal court. Despite the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding former presidents' immunity, Judge Alvin Hellerstein in New York City refused Trump's petition, maintaining that his team did not provide sufficient evidence.
