'Appearances of impropriety': Legal expert annihilates Trump’s argument for sentencing delay

Donald Trump's legal team is asking Justice Juan Merchan to delay his sentencing date, which is presently September 18, until after the presidential election. In response, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. said, on Monday, August 19, that he's leaving that decision up to Merchan — but said "there are strong reasons" to reject the request.

In an op-ed published by MSNBC on August 20, legal expert Norm Eisen lays out some reasons why he vehemently opposes a sentencing delay.

Other defendants, Eisen stresses, would not be granted such a delay.

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"Under New York sentencing law," Eisen explains, "the test Merchan must apply is whether the delay is 'reasonable.' It is anything but. For starters, Trump's motion for delay cites the Supreme Court's recent decision in Trump v. U.S., which provides at least presumptive immunity for official acts. On September 16, two days before the current sentencing date, Merchan will rule on Trump's motion to vacate his conviction on the basis of that immunity ruling. Trump's lawyers claim that he cannot be sentenced until after any appeals of the September 16 decision are fully and finally resolved."

Eisen continues, "Huh? Whatever may be said about the mix of official and unofficial acts at issue in the 2020 attempted coup, which was the subject of the Supreme Court's decision, the Manhattan case clearly concerns unofficial conduct. As the DA's office explained in a separate and meticulously detailed filing last month, a presidential candidate conspiring to interfere in an election by paying hush money to a porn star and then falsifying business records to cover it up simply does not describe the commission of official presidential acts."

Eisen goes on say that a sentencing delay "might serve to increase appearances of impropriety."

"For example, if Trump is elected and then not sentenced to a period of incarceration — although I have argued incarceration would be appropriate given his crimes — the public might think he unfairly received a lighter sentence because he was elected president," Eisen writes. "Trump also asserts that the sentencing should be delayed until after the election because doing so would supposedly prevent prosecutors 'from filing a sentencing submission,' which would argue what sentence Merchan should impose, before the judge rules on Trump’s motion to vacate his conviction. The defense contends that such a submission would be 'personally and politically prejudicial to President Trump and his family, and harmful to the institution of the Presidency.'"

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Norm Eisen's full op-ed for MSNBC is available at this link.