Former President Donald Trump鈥檚 sentencing in his hush money case has been postponed until at least September after the judge agreed Tuesday to weigh the possible impact of a new .
Trump had been scheduled to face sentencing July 11 on his New York conviction on felony charges of falsifying business records. He denies any wrongdoing.
The postponement sets the sentencing for Sept. 18 at the earliest, well after this month鈥檚 Republican National Convention, where Trump is set formally to accept the party鈥檚 nomination for president in this year鈥檚 race.
There was no immediate comment from Trump鈥檚 campaign or Manhattan prosecutors, who brought the case.
A Supreme Court ruling Monday granted broad immunity protections to presidents, while also restricting prosecutors from citing any official acts as evidence in trying to prove a president鈥檚 unofficial actions violated the law.
Hours after it was issued, Trump鈥檚 attorney that New York Judge Juan M. Merchan set aside the jury鈥檚 guilty verdict and delay the sentencing to consider how the high court鈥檚 ruling and could affect the hush money case.
He wrote that he鈥檒l rule Sept. 6, and the next date in the case would be Sept. 18, 鈥渋f such is still necessary.鈥�
In their filing Monday, defense attorneys argued that Manhattan prosecutors had placed 鈥渉ighly prejudicial emphasis on official-acts evidence,鈥� including Trump鈥檚 social media posts and witness testimony about Oval Office meetings.
Prosecutors said before the judge鈥檚 ruling Tuesday that they believed those arguments were 鈥渨ithout merit鈥� but that they wouldn鈥檛 oppose adjourning the sentencing for two weeks as the judge considers the matter.
Trump was convicted May 30 on 34 counts of falsifying business records arising from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 after meeting him at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. Trump has repeatedly denied that claim, saying at his June 27 debate with President Joe Biden: 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have sex with a porn star.鈥�
Prosecutors said the Daniels payment was part of a broader scheme to buy the silence of people who might have gone public during the campaign with embarrassing stories alleging he had extramarital sex. Trump鈥檚 former lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels and was later reimbursed by Trump, whose company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years behind bars. Other potential sentences include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge which would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment. Trump is the first ex-president convicted of a crime.
