President-elect Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause his sentencing in a New York hush money case. Shown is the court on Oct. 9, 2024 (Jane Norman/States Newsroom).
WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court late Tuesday to pause his sentencing in a New York hush money case, arguing it cannot go forward in light of the high court’s presidential immunity ruling last summer.
Trump, who is days away from his second inauguration, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in Manhattan on 34 felony convictions for falsifying business records. He is asking for a stay to prevent future proceedings in the case.
New York Justice Juan Merchan wrote in the sentencing order that he is not seeking jail time for Trump, but rather an “unconditional discharge” that would leave the president-elect with a criminal record in New York but avoids any serious penalties.
A jury convicted Trump in May after a weeks-long trial focusing on his bookkeeping maneuvers to cover up a $130,000 payment made by his personal lawyer ahead of the 2016 presidential election to silence a porn star about a past sexual encounter.
Trump’s request to the Supreme Court’s emergency docket asks the justices to expediently take up the questions of whether immunity extends to presidents-elect, whether the evidence admitted in the New York case violated his immunity, and whether he’s entitled to a delay in his sentencing.
“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,” read a brief signed by Trump’s attorney D. John Sauer, whom Trump has nominated to be the next U.S. solicitor general.
“Forcing President Trump to prepare for a criminal sentencing in a felony case while he is preparing to lead the free world as President of the United States in less than two weeks imposes an intolerable, unconstitutional burden on him that undermines these vital national interests,” Sauer wrote.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche’s name also appeared on the request. The president-elect has chosen Blanche to be the nation’s next deputy attorney general.
Merchan has given Trump the option to appear virtually for the sentencing.
Supreme Court ruling forced delays
Merchan on Monday denied Trump’s request to that state court to cancel the sentencing hearing, saying the request recycled earlier requests from Trump’s legal team to toss the case.
“This Court has considered Defendant’s arguments in support of his motion and finds that they are for the most part, a repetition of the arguments he has raised numerous times in the past,” Merchan wrote.
A state appeals court affirmed Merchan’s decision Tuesday.
In December, Merchan rejected another Trump attempt to throw out the hush money case based on an argument that evidence had been impermissibly admitted.
The Supreme Court’s immunity ruling restricted prosecutors’ ability to investigate presidents and Trump’s team argued the evidence gathered in the case violated that restriction.
Merchan had delayed Trump’s initial sentencing date following the Supreme Court’s July decision that former presidents enjoy criminal immunity for official acts and presumptive immunity for some actions on the office’s perimeter.
The Supreme Court took up Trump’s question of presidential immunity as he fought against Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s case alleging interference in the 2020 election.
The court ruled, 6-3, in Trump’s favor, in a July 1 decision. Three justices appointed by Trump are part of the court’s conservative majority.
Trump is set to take the oath of office on Jan. 20.
Jacob Fischler contributed to this report.