Vice President Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris, Trump in final stretch aslawyers seek stay of sentencing for ex-president hush money conviction
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are in the final stretch of the 2024 campaign, with the two focusing on swing states ahead of their presidential debate next week.
Harris unveiled more details of her economic plan in a speech in New Hampshire today, including increasing the tax reduction for small businesses, while Trump participated in a Fox News town hall tonight in Pennsylvania.
A CNN polls show a mixed outlook across six key battlegrounds. Harris holds a narrow lead in Wisconsin and Michigan, while Trump has an edge in Arizona. Battlegrounds Georgia and Pennsylvania remain key toss-ups.
Trump said “our hearts are with the victims” after a school shooting in Georgia, while Harris called it a “senseless tragedy.” She said “this is one of the many issues that’s at stake in this election.”
However, lawyers for Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court to stop his sentencing until the judges can hear the former president’s legal argument to move the hush money case into federal court.
The last-ditch request comes after a federal judge rejected Trump’s motion to move the state case into federal court and delay the sentencing currently scheduled for September 18.
Trump’s lawyers said, “absent the requested stay, the New York County proceedings are scheduled to proceed to sentencing and ‘judgment of conviction’ on September 18, 2024 … which could result in the immediate incarceration of President Trump and irreparable harm to the impeding election before this Court has an opportunity to address the federal interests implicated by this appeal.”
Trump filed a motion to appeal the decision denying the move into federal court Wednesday morning. That evening his lawyers filed motions with the federal judge and appeals court to stay the federal judge’s ruling until the appeals court can hear an argument on the merits of moving the case to federal court. The one-two effort is Trumps latest attempt to delay his sentencing.
Trumps lawyers have argued the case should be moved into federal court following the Supreme Court’s decision this summer that granted immunity for some of Trump’s conduct that fell within his official powers.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office have opposed the challenge to move the case into federal court. They said they defer to the trial judge on Trump’s effort to postpone his sentencing until after the election.