Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on Friday in the New York fraudulent bookkeeping case resulting from his attempts to hide his payoff to Stormy Daniels. Sunday, he filed to delay the sentencing and Monday the filing was revealed. This action is consistent with Trump's modus operandi. He doesn't try to win cases. He just tries to delay them forever so they never reach a conclusion.
Judge Juan Merchan has indicated that he doesn't plan to put Trump in prison and probably not even fine him. He seems to be leaning toward an unconditional discharge, which would end the case with no punishment but Trump would remain in the books forever as a convicted felon.
Trump is trying to get out of this situation by arguing that the Supreme Court has granted presidents immunity for actions taken relating to their work as president. It is far-fetched to believe that falsifying business records relating to paying off a porn star is a constitutional duty of the president, but with this Supreme Court, you never know. Trump's real goal is to delay the sentencing until after Jan. 20 at noon, and then argue that sitting presidents can't be sentenced. Once again, Trump lucked out. Merchan could have sentenced him to a modest fine long ago and the appeals courts would most likely have upheld that. After all, a jury did convict Trump on 34 counts. That means something. (V)