Prosecutors in Trump's hush money case say they don't oppose delaying his sentencing

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Prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney's office said Tuesday that they don't oppose delaying Donald Trump's sentencing in his hush money case given the Supreme Court's ruling Monday that he has immunity for some of his actions as president in his separate election interference case. Several assistant district attorneys made their position known in a letter to New York Judge Juan Merchan, who's presiding over the hush money case. Trump was convicted in May of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels at the end of the 2016 presidential campaign to cover up an alleged affair. Trump denies any affair with Daniels. He was scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, but that hearing now will likely be pushed back until after the Republican National Convention, which begins July 15. The letter from prosecutors came in response to a pre-motion letter Monday from Trump’s lawyers indicating they wanted to delay his sentencing as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. “Although we believe 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,” the prosecutors wrote to Merchan. The prosecutors asked that Trump’s legal team file the request to adjourn the sentencing hearing by July 24, two weeks after the original requested deadline. The letter was signed by the assistant district attorneys who prosecuted the hush money case, including Joshua Steinglass, Matthew Colangelo, Christopher Conroy, Susan Hoffinger and Becky Mangold. Trump’s lawyers sent their letter to Merchan on Monday after the Supreme Court issued its decision on Trump's immunity appeal, with a 6-3 majority ruling that in the federal election interference case, he has immunity for some official actions, although maybe not for unofficial ones. The former president’s legal team said they wanted to brief Merchan on how the immunity decision could affect the verdict in the hush money case as part of their effort to get the conviction thrown out. Many of the actions entered into evidence during the hush money trial occurred before Trump took office in 2017. The immunity ruling will likely further delay proceedings in the federal and Georgia election interference cases as well. Biden's campaign spokesperson James Singer said in a statement Monday that the decision has “nothing to do with Donald Trump being convicted of 34 felonies for paying hush money to a porn star and then breaking the law to cover it up.” “At the end of the day, Donald Trump is a convicted felon precisely because he believed he’s above the law and was willing to do anything to gain power,” Singer said. “That’s why he’s a threat and must be defeated."