President-elect Donald Trump filed an emergency petition with the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday morning in an attempt to block the ruling in New York v. Trump.
Judge Juan Merchan set Trump’s sentencing in New York v. Trump for Jan. 10 after a jury found the now-president-elect guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree, stemming from an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts and appealed the verdict, but Merchan rejected it last week.
NEW YORK JUDGE DETERMINES TRUMP’S SENTENCE DAYS BEFORE INAUGURATION
“President Trump’s legal team has filed an emergency petition with the United States Supreme Court, asking the Court to correct the unfair practices of the New York courts and stop the illegal sentencing of the Manhattan prosecutors’ witch hunt,” Trump spokesman and new White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital.
“The Supreme Court’s historic decision on immunity, the Constitution and established legal precedent dictate that this baseless fraud be rejected immediately.”
Cheung said “the American people have elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate that demands an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and all remaining witch hunts.”
He added, “We look forward to uniting our country under the new administration as President Trump makes America great again.”
Former President Donald Trump, left, attends the first day of his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 15. Judge Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers on March 14 in New York. (Angela Weiss/AFP via AP, POOL/AP)
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.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrives at the trial of Daniel Penny after a lunch break at the Manhattan Supreme Court Building in New York, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
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.
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.”
“In the meantime, the trial court in New York has no authority to sentence and sentence President Trump—or to pursue any further criminal proceedings against him—pending the resolution of his underlying appeal raising substantive claims of presidential immunity, including review in this court if necessary,” the submission states. “As set forth herein, this court should order an immediate stay of the criminal proceedings against President Trump in the trial court of New York, including but not limited to the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025 at 9:30 a.m.”
New York must submit a written response by Thursday at 10:00 a.m
JUDGE REJECTS TRUMP’S REQUEST TO STOP SENTENCING IN CRIMINAL CASE
The filing with the United States Supreme Court comes after a New York judge on Tuesday denied Trump’s request to delay his Jan. 10 sentencing, which is currently scheduled for Friday, Jan. 10 at 9:30 a.m.
US Supreme Court. (Howard/Bloomberg via 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.
Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
