Roommates, it looks like Donald Trump couldn’t rant his way out of this one! On Thursday (January 9), New York’s highest court declined to block the President-elect’s sentencing in his hush-money case. The sentencing is scheduled to take place on Friday.
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Donald Trump’s Lawyers Argued THIS About The Hush Money Case
One judge of the New York Court of Appeals issued a brief order declining to grant Trump’s legal team a hearing. So now, the U.S. Supreme Court is likely his last option to prevent the hearing in the hush money case from happening. According to The Associated Press, Trump has already asked the Supreme Court to call off Friday’s sentencing. His lawyers turned to the nation’s highest court Wednesday after New York courts refused to postpone the sentencing.
Judge Juan M. Merchan is scheduled to conduct the sentencing hearing. Merchan also presided over Trump’s trial and conviction last May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump has consistently denied wrongdoing.
In a filing to the top New York court, Donald Trump’s attorneys had said Merchan and the state’s mid-level appellate court both “erroneously failed” to stop the sentencing. His team argued that the Constitution requires an automatic pause as they appeal. Additionally, his lawyers said the sentencing would disrupt the presidential transition. The President-elect is preparing to return to the White House on January 20.
Keep in mind that Judge Merchan has already said he will not impose jail time, fines, or probation. Still, Trump’s lawyers argued a felony conviction would still have side effects, including distracting the President-elect during his transition.
Trump’s attorney, D. John Sauer, called the case politically motivated and said sentencing now would be a “grave injustice.” Sauer is also Trump’s pick for solicitor general, who represents the government before the high court.
Trump’s attorneys also argue that evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling. That ruling gave Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president. They have said the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out on the immunity issue.
Prosecutors & Court Judges Oppose Trump’s Legal Team
However, prosecutors and the appeals court judges resisted these narratives. Prosecutors argued that there was no reason for the high court to take the “extraordinary step” of halting the case. Additionally, they have said Trump’s claims aren’t strong enough to overturn his conviction. Furthermore, they say his appeal shouldn’t freeze the case because it’s about evidence rather than the core charges.
“There is a compelling public interest in proceeding to sentencing,” Manhattan prosecutors wrote. “Defendant has provided no record support for his claim that his duties as President-elect foreclose him from virtually attending a sentencing that will likely take no more than an hour.”
Meanwhile, judges in New York have found that Trump’s convictions are related to personal matters and do not fall in line with the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.
Trump’s legal team submitted their emergency motion to the U.S. Supreme Court to Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She hears emergency appeals from New York.
Associated Press reporters MICHAEL HILL, MICHAEL R. SISAK, and LINDSAY WHITEHURST contributed to this report.
