(Photo
by
Yuki
Iwamura-Pool/Getty
Images)
Donald
Trump
got
what
he
wanted.
Again.
This
afternoon
New
York
Supreme
Court
Justice
Juan
Merchan
granted
the
former
president’s
request
to
delay
his
sentencing
until
after
the
presidential
election.
“The
Court
is
a
fair,
impartial,
and
apolitical
institution,”
he
wrote.
“Adjourning
decision
on
the
motion
and
sentencing,
if
such
is
required,
should
dispel
any
suggestion
that
the
Court
will
have
issued
any
decision
or
imposed
sentence
either
to
give
an
advantage
to,
or
to
create
a
disadvantage
for,
any
political
party
and/or
any
candidate
for
any
office.”
The
judge
appeared
to
concede
that
this
decision
was
taken
wholly
in
deference
to
the
political
calendar,
noting
that
“any
adjournment,
of
even
one
week
beyond
September
18,
will
bring
us
within
approximately
41
days
of
the
2024
presidential
election.”
But
he
immediately
contradicted
himself,
likening
the
decision
to
postponements
routinely
granted
to
any
defendant.
“Given
the
unique
facts
and
circumstances
of
this
case,
there
is
no
reason
why
this
Defendant
should
be
treated
any
differently
than
any
other,”
he
says,
paradoxically.
And
so
Trump
will
be
sentenced
on
November
26
for
34
counts
of
creating
a
false
business
record
to
cover
up
the
hush
money
payment
to
Stormy
Daniels.
Or
perhaps
not
at
all,
if
the
court
grants
Trump’s
motion
to
dismiss
the
indictment
on
grounds
of
presidential
immunity.
Meanwhile,
the
Second
Circuit
has
referred
Trump’s
attempt
to
get
into
federal
court
to
the
motions
panel
sitting
on
Tuesday.
That’s
the
appeal
of
the
“remand
order”
from
Judge
Hellerstein
that
wasn’t
a
remand
at
all.
In
reality,
the
district
judge
denied
Trump’s
petition
to
move
for
federal
removal
outside
the
timeframe
contemplated
by
the
statute.
There
was
nothing
to
remand,
because
the
case
was
never
in
federal
court
—
or
at
least
not
since
June
of
2023
when
Judge
Hellerstein
actually
did
remand
it.
The
district
judge
noted
as
much
this
morning
when
he
dismissed
Trump’s
motion
for
stay
filed
in
his
own
court
simultaneously
with
the
windmill
tilt
at
the
Second
Circuit.
“Since
I
denied
leave
to
file
for
removal,
and
thus
there
has
been
no
removal
petition
properly
filed,
there
is
no
action
in
my
order
of
[September]
3,
2024
to
stay,”
Judge
Hellerstein
wrote.
“The
motion
is
denied
as
academic.”
Of
course,
it’s
more
academic
than
ever
now,
thanks
to
Justice
Merchan,
since
the
whole
purpose
of
the
exercise
was
to
avoid
having
to
show
up
in
court
for
sentencing
on
the
18th.
But
presumably
Trump’s
lawyers
will
still
show
up
Tuesday
to
make
their
bizarroworld
argument
anyway.
People
of
The
State
of
New
York
v.
Trump [District
Docket
via
Court
Listener]
People
of
The
State
of
New
York
v.
Trump [Circuit
Docket
via
Court
Listener]
People
of
The
State
of
New
York
v.
Trump
[State
Docket]
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
produces
the
Law
and
Chaos substack and podcast.