Trump casts upcoming sentencing date in N.Y. case as election interference

• "Setting aside naked election-interference objectives, there is no valid countervailing reason for the court to keep the current sentencing date on the calendar," attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the request to Judge Juan Merchan, who has overseen the case.

Catch up quick: Trump was convicted in May for falsifying business records in connection with a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels over an alleged sexual encounter.

• The jury's verdict made Trump the first former president convicted of a felony in U.S. history.
• His original sentencing was set for July, but was pushed back as lawyers tried to have his conviction tossed.

The big picture: Trump has repeatedly used stalling tactics across his criminal cases in an effort to delay or derail the proceedings until after November.

State of play: Merchan is scheduled to rule on Sept. 16 whether to toss Trump's guilty verdict on the Supreme Court's ruling that presidents have immunity for "official acts," just a couple days before the sentencing date.

• "That timing illustrates just how unreasonable it is to have the potential for only a single day between a decision on first-impression presidential immunity issues and an unprecedented and unwarranted sentencing," the attorneys' letter said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with details throughout.

Go deeper: Judge in Trump's hush money case declines to recuse himself for a third time