Trump hush money sentencing postponed past Election Day, judge rules

• Former President Donald Trump will not be sentenced in his New York criminal hush money case until after the presidential election, Judge Juan Merchan ruled.
• Merchan has yet to rule on Trump's request to dismiss the case in light of a Supreme Court ruling expanding the scope of presidential immunity.
• The hush money case centers on a payment Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen made to keep porn star Stormy Daniels from speaking publicly about an alleged one-night stand with Trump.

Former President Donald Trump will not be sentenced in his New York criminal hush money case until after the Nov. 5 presidential election, a judge ruled Friday.

The sentencing date, which was set for Sept. 18, will instead take place on Nov. 26, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan ruled.

And Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, will not be sentenced at all if the court grants his request to dismiss the case in light of a Supreme Court ruling expanding the scope of presidential immunity.

Merchan in his four-page order said he will rule on Trump's bid to vacate the jury's guilty verdict on Nov. 12. Trump will be sentenced "if necessary" two weeks later, Merchan ruled.

"This matter is one that stands alone, in a unique place in this Nation's history," the judge wrote.

If Trump is sentenced, then the public deserves "a sentencing hearing that is entirely focused on the verdict of the jury," and one that is "free from distraction or distortion."

"Unfortunately, we are now at a place in time that is fraught with complexities rendering the requirements of a sentencing hearing, should one be necessary, difficult to execute," Merchan wrote.

The case centers on a $130,000 payment made by Trump's then-attorney Michael Cohen to keep porn star