Former President Donald Trump will not be sentenced in his New York criminal case until after the 2024 presidential election, following another delay announced by Judge Juan Merchan on Friday.
Merchan wrote in a new letter that he would sentence Trump on November 26 — if necessary — in response to a request from Trump’s lawyers to push back the sentencing.
Merchan noted the upcoming presidential election in his decision to delay sentencing, saying that part of his reason for doing so was to avoid the appearance that the sentencing was intended to influence the November election.
In addition to pushing back the sentencing until November 26, Merchan wrote that he would decide on Trump’s motion to vacate the verdict because of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision on November 12, which is also after the election.
The Manhattan DA’s office said it “stands ready for sentencing on the new date.”
While they maintain the case should be thrown out, Trump’s legal team is pleased with Merchan’s decision to delay his sentencing, a source familiar with the reaction tells CNN. Trump was with his lawyers when he found out.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung responded to the decision, saying, “there should be no sentencing in the Manhattan DA’s election interference witch hunt.”
Trump later echoed that message in a post on Truth Social, repeating his baseless claim that the case was a “political attack” orchestrated by his rivals and saying the case “should have never been brought.”
More on the case: The former president was scheduled to be sentenced on September 18. Trump was convicted earlier this year of 34 charges of falsifying business records, stemming from his hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
It is one of four criminal cases Trump is facing while running again for president.
This post has been updated with more details from the judge’s decision Friday and reactions from Trump, his team and the Manhattan DA.
CNN’s Kate Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.