Trump’s sudden debate withdrawal linked to looming criminal sentencing: legal experts
New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan is expected to deny Donald Trump's motion to dismiss his 34-criminal count conviction on September 6, and sentence the ex-president on September 18. That likelihood may be impacting his sudden decision, announced late Thursday night, to pull out from the ABC News September 10 presidential debate he previously agreed to.
These predictions and insights come from two legal experts, former FBI General Counsel and Mueller lead prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, and MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin.
Trump Campaign communications director Steven Cheung Thursday night in a press release claimed, "it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds." That statement came hours after the campaign's Jason Miller had told Axios Trump would do multiple debates.
Cheung alleged there is "political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party," while claiming, "general election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee."
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The debate details were finalized in May, well before Donald Trump became his party's nominee, and one debate took place in June. trump officially became the GOP nominee last week.
Meanwhile, news outlets report there is tremendous unity among grass roots Democrats and party leaders for Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential bid.
"Well, that sure was fast," conservative historian and political analyst Jay Cost wrote Friday morning at The Washington Examiner. "Within 24 hours of Biden’s withdrawal, elite Democrats began lining up behind Vice President Kamala Harris, who as of this writing can claim to be the presumptive nominee," he wrote, adding, "this does seem set in stone."
Also falsely, Cheung stated: "There is a strong sense by many in the Democrat Party - namely Barack Hussein Obama - that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone 'better.' "
At 5:01 AM ET Friday morning, former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama formally endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, in video recorded earlier Thursday.
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Friday morning, Weissmann wrote:
"PREDICTION. On 9/6 Judge Merchan said he will rule on Trump’s motion to throw out the NY verdicts. He will deny it and will sentence Trump on the 9/18 scheduled date.
It will then be a choice between FORMER PROSECUTOR vs CURRENT CONVICT."
On MSNBC Friday morning, Rubin noted, "you can understand why Trump would be very eager to avoid a debate with the person we are all referring to now, as the person who's prosecuting the case, the biggest case against Donald Trump, if he's still going to be a man convicted of 34 felony counts here in New York."
Echoing Weissmann, Rubin added, "we are likely barreling toward a September 18 sentencing. That's a firm date. We'll see if they can somehow persuade Judge Merchan to change that. But if, as I suspect, on September 6, he comes back and says, 'I'm going to keep this conviction,' then September 18 is the date for sentencing."
She added, "there's nothing that the former or future president could do about that."
Rubin reiterated her remarks on social media, writing, "For Trump, the legal and political are now inseparable. Is Trump’s refusal to schedule the next debate really about Harris not yet obtaining the nomination? Or does it reflect the understanding his NY conviction likely will stick (at least through November), reinforcing the prosecutor vs. criminal frame that could benefit her?"
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