The United States Supreme Court has declined to postpone President-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case, clearing the way for him to face sentencing in a New York courtroom on Friday.
In a document filed on Tuesday, Trump’s legal team cited the Court’s own ruling in July that granted him “presidential immunity.” They argued that the trial court in New York “wrongly refused to recognize the immunity from prosecution of the president-elect during the period of the presidential transition.”
Trump’s lawyers had requested the Supreme Court to immediately pause the ongoing criminal case while they appealed a legal issue concerning whether Trump is immune from prosecution due to his former role as president.
Despite the Supreme Court’s 6-to-3 conservative majority, it denied Trump’s last-minute effort to avoid criminal sentencing before the January 20 inauguration.
Trump, 78, who pleaded not guilty, is expected to appear virtually at the hearing. Legal experts suggest that he aims to avoid sentencing to escape the official judgment of being a convicted felon.
“He doesn’t want to be sentenced because that is the official judgment of him being a convicted felon,” said Cheryl Bader, a law professor at Fordham University in New York.
In May 2024, a jury in New York found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an attempt to conceal hush money payments to a porn star during his first presidential campaign in 2016.
On Monday, Trump’s lawyers filed a lawsuit at an appeals court in New York against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan over the judge’s denial of Trump’s presidential immunity motions.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Friday morning in Lower Manhattan. The president-elect has indicated his intention to appear virtually.
“After months of delay, the sentencing will now formalize Mr. Trump’s conviction, cementing his status as the first felon to occupy the Oval Office,” reported The New York Times.
(With input from agencies)
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U.S. Supreme Court declines to halt Trump's hush money sentencing
cgtn.com
