Donald Trump and his team of lawyers continue to display extremely weird behavior despite claiming innocence and transparency.
They're trying very hard to make sure Trump doesn't have to show up to his sentencing in New York on September 18th, but so far their attempts have failed. Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts by a unanimous jury on May 30th, which feels like it was two years ago.
It's already been delayed once, from its original date of July 11th, so that Judge Juan Merchan could mull over what parts of the testimony, if any, might be struck thanks to the new SCOTUS immunity ruling.
Judge Merchan seems to have had enough time because he's denied their requests for his recusal three times now, so that's a very hard "no." And that's a word Donald Trump doesn't hear nearly enough, so his lawyers are still pressing for Merchan to at least delay the sentencing until after the election.
Can you see the goalposts moving from here, or shall I magnify them for you?
Trump wants to wait to see if he wins, because then he can never be sentenced! Again, it's such a weird way for an innocent person to behave.
Trump's defense lawyers argued he should be given more time to potentially appeal Merchan's immunity ruling before being sentenced. "There is no basis for continuing to rush," they wrote in a letter to Judge Merchan that I'm sure he chuckled over while he enjoyed his lunch.
"Please give us more time to delay the inevitable" is a weird legal request too, but these guys went to the law school at Trump University.
Expecting special treatment is a longtime thing with Trump, and Judge Merchan may be the first of many to end Teflon Don's life of getting away with everything.