After securing a criminal conviction against former President Donald Trump, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg may now be protecting Democrats who prefer not to see the Republican candidate jailed before Election Day.
In a filing submitted on Friday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced that his office will not oppose Trump’s attorneys’ motion to delay the previously scheduled sentencing hearing on September 18th. This request follows a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted presidents absolute immunity for official acts performed in office, which Trump’s legal team argues may extend to the hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
In June, Trump was convicted of felony charges for orchestrating the payments to benefit his 2016 presidential campaign and subsequently misclassifying them on business records. Prosecutors have informed Judge Juan Merchan that they will not offer a sentencing recommendation, including whether jail time should be considered.
“The People defer to the Court on the appropriate post-trial schedule that allows for adequate time to adjudicate defendant’s [presidential immunity] motion while also pronouncing sentence ‘without unreasonable delay,’” prosecutors wrote, according to the Washington Examiner. “The Supreme Court’s recent decision did not consider whether a trial court’s ruling on that distinct evidentiary question is immediately appealable, and there are strong reasons why it should not be.
“Nonetheless, given the defense’s newly-stated position, we defer to the Court on whether an adjournment is warranted to allow for orderly appellate litigation of that question, or to reduce the risk of a disruptive stay from an appellate court pending consideration of that question,” Bragg’s filing said. It’s the second time he has honored Trump’s request for a delay in as many months.
JUST IN: DA Bragg does *not* oppose Trump’s request to delay his sentencing, instead deferring to Justice Merchan.
They note the new/complex effect of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling. https://t.co/kOw6qETBZF pic.twitter.com/2paU87ko1q
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 19, 2024
RedState contributor Bonchie described on X Bragg’s letter as an “incredibly transparent” effort to prevent President Trump from facing jail time, aiming to avoid increasing public sympathy for the Republican just a month after he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Since then, President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to be officially nominated by the Democratic Party at this week’s national convention in Chicago. Most mainstream polls now show Harris in a tight race with Trump, surpassing Biden’s declining numbers from a few weeks ago.
Trump is set to be sentenced for 34 felony convictions and still faces a federal case related to January 6 that is unlikely to be resolved before Election Day. Last month, a Florida U.S. district judge dismissed his classified documents case, referencing the Supreme Court’s July ruling. Additionally, a fourth case in Georgia concerning alleged election interference has been significantly hampered by prosecutorial misconduct.
