Prompt Sentencing In New York Case Would Work To Trump’s ‘Advantage,’ Jonathan Turley Claims

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump would benefit from Judge Juan Merchan sentencing him promptly in his New York case.

Merchan on Tuesday granted a joint request by prosecutors and defense attorneys to halt all deadlines in the case until Nov. 19, including Trump’s sentencing. Turley, on “Outnumbered,” said that if Merchan sentences Trump, he would have grounds to appeal, but if the judge suspends the case, the president-elect wouldn’t have that option.

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“This case was lawfare. It should not have been brought. To this day, we don’t know exactly what the president was convicted of. But it’s going to take a while to be able to rectify that. This judge is unlikely to reverse his views on the evidence, the case, the underlying theory,” Turley said. “That would only come with an appellate review. The president can’t get to that review until the judge lets go of the case and actually sentences him.”

“Now with that comes a political penalty that my friend Andy McCarthy has noted, that he will at that point be formally a convicted person, a felon, but most of the Democrats are already referring to him that way,” he continued. “So I think that finality works to the advantage of the president, and suspension would not.”