Ex-prosecutor reveals 'key' moment from NY hearing signaling Trump’s delay tactics at an end

On Wednesday, September 18, Justice Juan Merchan is scheduled to sentence former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.'s hush money/falsified business records case. The sentencing, if it isn't delayed, will mark the first time in the United States' 248-year history that a former president has been sentenced on criminal charges — while he is running for president once again.

Trump and his legal team, however, are doing everything they can to delay or avoid the sentencing. But on Tuesday, September 3, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trump's request to intervene in the case.

During a Wednesday, September 4 appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance discussed Trump's delay tactics — and argued that they don't appear to be working.

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The MSNBC legal analyst told host Willie Geist, "Trump had already tried this removal stunt back in July of last year, and the court told him no. Trump took an appeal then, but he abandoned that appeal. And the reason is pretty clear. The judge, Judge Hellerstein, held a hearing, looked at the evidence, looked at the facts, and concluded that the case the Manhattan DA had brought was purely private conduct. It was a hush money payment from Donald Trump to a porn star about an affair— nothing to do with the business of the presidency."

In Trump v. the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that presidents enjoyed immunity from criminal prosecution for "official" acts but not for "unofficial acts."

Vance told Geist, "Well now, Donald Trump is trying it again. He's facing criminal sentencing in Manhattan on his 34 counts of conviction in two weeks. He's desperate to stop that. But the judge said: Look, we've already taken a look at this. There's nothing new here. I won't even give you permission to file these removal papers. And that's the key here. The first time you try to remove a case, you can do that automatically. But he second time, you need permission from the court."

The former federal prosecutor added, "So, the fight isn't actually about the merits of removal, it's about whether or not the judge was correct to say: You don't get to do it a second time. The judge supported that decision very precisely."

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Watch the full video below or at this link.

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