Trump asks US Supreme Court to stop sentencing in New York secret money case. donald trump news
The president-elect will be sentenced in a New York criminal case 10 days before he begins his second term.
United States President-elect Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to halt proceedings in a New York criminal case related to hush money payments to an adult film star.
The court filing released Wednesday comes just two days before Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in the case.
Trump was convicted last May of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, which prosecutors said he did to conceal an affair that could have been politically damaging before the 2016 presidential election. .
Last week, Judge Juan Merchan ordered sentencing for Friday, just 10 days before Trump takes office.
In a petition filed with the Supreme Court, Trump’s lawyers asked for an immediate stay of the sentence “to prevent serious injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency and the operation of the federal government.”
Such a stay would allow time for Trump’s ongoing appeal of the case to proceed. The Supreme Court ordered prosecutors to respond to the request by Thursday.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that last year’s Supreme Court decision giving presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution means some evidence should not have been introduced in the case.
He has pushed for the conviction to be quashed.
The appeal to the Supreme Court – America’s top court, which is dominated by a 6-3 conservative majority, including three Trump appointees – comes after two lower courts rejected Trump’s request for a stay.
historical conviction
The New York case made Trump the first former president to be convicted in US history. He is set to re-enter office as the first president to be a convicted felon.
Trump was also criminally convicted in three other cases: a federal case related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election; a federal case related to the concealment and hoarding of classified White House documents; And a case in Georgia relates to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results there.
However, Trump’s election victory served as a potential death knell for the two federal cases, a long-standing Justice Department policy barring prosecutions of sitting presidents.
After Trump’s victory, US Special Counsel Jack Smith moved to dismiss both cases.
The future of the case in Georgia is also uncertain, with the state appeals court recently removing the top prosecutor. Although the state case is not subject to the same restrictions as the federal case, it is considered unlikely that it will proceed while Trump remains in office.
Trump’s 2024 election victory has also raised sharp questions about what effect his sentencing will have in New York.
However, in court filings, Judge Merchan has indicated that he will sentence Trump to an “unconditional discharge,” meaning his sentence will remain intact, but he will not face jail, fines, or probation.
