The United States Supreme Court denied President-elect Trump’s request to block Friday’s sentencing in New York v. Trump.
On Wednesday, Trump filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to block the Jan. 10 sentencing scheduled by Judge Juan Merchan.
“The request for an adjournment submitted to Justice Sotomayor and directed by her to the Court was denied because, among other thingsthe following reasons. First, alleged evidentiary violations in President-elect Trump’s trial in state court may be addressed in the regular appellate process,” the order said.
“Second, the burden that sentencing will impose on the president-elect’s responsibilities is relatively insignificant in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of ‘unconditional dismissal’ after a brief virtual hearing,” the court ruled.
The order also stated that “Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh will grant the request.”
Trump needed five votes to approve his request. A note on the order suggests that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with Justices Sonja Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson.
Trump’s sentencing is now expected to move forward, with the president-elect expected to make a virtual appearance at the trial, which is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday.
Merchan set Trump’s sentencing in New York v. Trump for Jan. 10 after a jury found the now-president-elect guilty of first-degree falsifying business records, stemming from Manhattan District Attorney The Alvin Bragg Investigation. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts and appealed the verdict, but Merchan rejected it last week.
The US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC (AP Photo)
TRUMP FILED REQUEST TO STAY ‘ILLEGAL CONVICTION’ IN NEW YORK CASE
Trump’s lawyers, in their petition to the high court, said it should “immediately order a stay of the criminal proceedings pending in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York, pending the final resolution of President Trump’s interlocutory appeal raising issues of presidential immunity, including on this court if necessary.”
“The court should also enter, if necessary, a temporary administrative stay while it considers this request for a stay,” the filing said.
Former President Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Emily Elconin/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Trump’s lawyers also argued that New York prosecutors wrongly admitted extensive evidence related to official presidential actions during the trial, ignoring the high court’s ruling on presidential immunity.
JUDGE REJECTS TRUMP’S REQUEST TO STOP SENTENCING IN CRIMINAL CASE
The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that presidents have immunity from prosecution in connection with official presidential acts.
Trump’s legal team has argued that Merchan should not be allowed to move forward and said their appeal of the ruling “will ultimately result in the dismissal of the District Attorney’s politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from the start, centered on the wrongdoing and false claims of the disgraced , a disbarred former attorney who is a serial liar, violated President Trump’s legal rights and had no merit.”
Judge Juan Merchan imposed an order to imprison former President Trump before the start of the trial. He was fined $10,000 for violating that order. (Getty Images)
Merchan set a sentencing date last week but said he would not sentence the president-elect to prison.
Merchan wrote in his decision that he would likely not “impose a prison sentence,” but rather an “unconditional discharge,” meaning no sentences would be imposed.
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On January 20, Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
Trump maintains his innocence in the case and has repeatedly denounced it as an example of a “law” being pushed by Democrats in an attempt to hurt his election efforts ahead of November.
