By John Klar

Manhattan prosecutors agreed on July 2 to delay the sentencing of Donald Trump for his conviction in New York on 34 felony counts relating to allegedly fraudulent characterizations of hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. Pending consideration by trial judge Juan M. Merchan of briefs and oral arguments by both sides, the scheduled July 11 sentencing is set for Sept. 18, beyond the July 15-18 Republican National Convention. This dramatic pause in the otherwise relentless pursuit of Trump arose from a game-changing US Supreme Court decision the day before.

The Supreme Court’s surprising July 1 ruling in Trump v. United States threw a radioactive monkey wrench into the best-laid plans of New York Attorney General Alvin Bragg. The Supreme Court’s holding in Trump applied to a four-count indictment of the former president for alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election “by spreading knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct the collecting, counting, and certifying of the election results.” However, by laying out novel grounds for broad presidential immunity, the decision directly impacted Bragg’s New York case convicting The Donald.

Trump v. United States held that a former president is subject to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his core constitutional authority, presumptive immunity (rebuttable by sufficient state evidence) for all official acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts. Trump’s liberal critics claim his alleged crimes in the hush money case constituted unofficial acts prior to his election as POTUS: Both prosecution and defense are........

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