Washington Late Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump requested that the U.S. Supreme Court postpone his sentencing in a hush money case in New York, claiming that it cannot proceed due to the high court’s decision last summer about presidential immunity.
Days before his second inauguration, Trump will be sentenced in Manhattan on Friday for 34 felony crimes related to falsifying company documents. In order to stop the case from moving forward, he is requesting a stay.
In the sentencing judgment, New York Justice Juan Merchan stated that he is not calling for Trump to serve time in prison but rather an unconditional discharge, which would leave the president-elect with a criminal record in New York but spare him from any severe punishment.
Following a weeks-long trial that focused on his bookkeeping practices to conceal a $130,000 payment made by his personal attorney prior to the 2016 presidential election to silence a porn star on a previous sexual encounter, a jury found Trump guilty in May.
In his appeal to the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, Trump requests that the justices expeditiously consider whether president-elects are immune, whether the evidence accepted in the New York case breached his immunity, and whether he is entitled to a sentencing delay.
As stated in a brief signed by Trump’s lawyer D. John Sauer, whom Trump has nominated to be the next U.S. solicitor general, “President Trump is currently engaged in the most crucial and sensitive tasks of preparing to assume the Executive Power in less than two weeks, all of which are essential to the United States national security and vital interests.”
According to Sauer, President Trump is subjected to an unconscionable burden that jeopardizes these crucial national interests by having to prepare for a criminal sentencing in a felony case while he is getting ready to lead the free world as President of the United States in less than two weeks.
The request also included the name of Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche. Blanche has been selected by the president-elect to serve as the country’s next deputy attorney general.
Trump has been offered the opportunity to attend the sentence virtually by Merchan.
Trump’s request to have the sentencing hearing canceled was denied by Merchan on Monday, stating that it repeated previous efforts from Trump’s legal team to have the case dismissed.
After reviewing the defendant’s arguments in favor of his application, this court concluded that they largely restated the points he has made repeatedly before, Merchan wrote.
On Tuesday, a state appeals court upheld Merchan’s ruling.
Merchan denied a second Trump effort in December to dismiss the hush money case on the grounds that evidence had been improperly entered.
Trump’s lawyers claimed the evidence acquired in the case went against the Supreme Court’s immunity judgment, which limited prosecutors’ power to look into presidents.
After the Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents had criminal immunity for official activities and presumptive immunity for certain actions on the grounds of the office, Merchan postponed Trump’s initial sentencing date.
As Trump battled against Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s case alleging meddling in the 2020 election, the Supreme Court took up his case regarding presidential immunity.
On July 1, the court decided 6-3 in Trump’s favor. The conservative majority on the court includes three judges that Trump appointed.
On January 20, Trump is scheduled to take the oath of office.
This report was contributed to by Jacob Fischler.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!
