Former President Donald Trump has scored a number of legal victories this year, many outcomes had profound effects on his campaign, as he won't have to worry about trials until well after the November election.
However, Trump and his legal team are attempting to crush one upcoming legal obstacle that could hamstring his campaign.
According to NBC New York, Trump and his lawyers are now moving to postpone the upcoming sentencing hearing in the New York "hush money" case brought against him by DA Alvin Bragg.
Trump was found guilty as a result of the trial and has already had his first sentencing date delayed until September.
The former president's lawyers penned a letter to the judge overseeing the case in an attempt to delay the upcoming Sept. 16 sentencing hearing while his lawyers also work to have the case overturned in federal court.
"There is no good reason to sentence President Trump prior to November 5, 2024, if there is to be a sentencing at all, or to drive the post-trial proceedings forward on a needlessly accelerated timeline," Trump's lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the letter to Juan M. Merchan.
The fight to overturn the conviction comes in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that offered Trump a high level of immunity for certain acts.
The outlet noted:
Trump's lawyers filed paperwork late Thursday asking the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to seize the case from the state court where it was tried. The federal court kicked back that request on Friday on technical grounds, but Trump's lawyers will have a chance to resubmit it.
As his lawyers fight to have a federal court intervene and overturn or throw out the conviction, they said postponing the sentencing hearing is the "only appropriate course."
Reportedly, the judge has not responded, nor did DA Bragg's office.
The former president's legal team argued that prosecutors in the case rushed the case to trial before waiting on the final ruling in the immunity question that went to the U.S. Supreme Court for a decision.
NBC New York noted:
Trump’s lawyers have argued that prosecutors rushed to trial instead of waiting for the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision, and that prosecutors erred by showing jurors evidence that should not have been allowed under the ruling, such as former White House staffers describing how he reacted to news coverage of the hush money deal and tweets he sent while president in 2018.
Obviously, a sentencing hearing before the election could be bad for the former president, especially if he's given jail time.
On the other hand, such situations have historically given Trump a bump in polling, so who knows what will happen at this stage.
