Trump asks Supreme Court to pause sentencing in hush money case

CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday urged the US Supreme Court to pause his sentencing in the hush money case, a highly unusual request that relies in part on the court’s decision last year to grant him broad immunity from criminal prosecution.

Trump’s emergency appeal arrived a day after a state appeals court in New York rejected his request to postpone his sentencing, which is set for Friday.

The pause is required, Trump’s attorneys told the court, “to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency and the operations of the federal government.”

In response to Trump’s filing, a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, “We will respond in court papers.”

The high court has asked prosecutors respond by 10 a.m. ET on Thursday.

The president-elect is appealing his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records, arguing it should be tossed because a conservative majority of the Supreme Court in July ruled that former presidents are entitled to sweeping immunity for official actions. Trump was convicted in May of falsifying business records over payments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to reimburse a $130,000 hush money payment made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, in order to keep her from speaking out about an alleged affair before the 2016 election. Trump has denied the affair.

Trump’s latest request to the US Supreme Court is unusual because his criminal case isn’t yet fully resolved by New York courts. Judge Juan Merchan, the trial judge in New York, has rejected Trump’s demands to stop the Friday sentencing.

Merchan upheld Trump’s conviction last week and has signaled that Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20, will face no legal penalties.

Trump’s request also is likely to face procedural challenges, even on the 6-3 conservative Supreme Court that he helped to build with three nominees during his first term.

“Not for the first time, Trump is asking for relief that is just not available to other criminal defendants – asking the Supreme Court to prevent a state sentencing proceeding from even happening,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center. “Even if there’s something to his immunity argument, it’s not clear why a sentencing that isn’t going to produce any actual consequences has to be blocked, rather than just reviewed through an ordinary appeal.”

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, said Wednesday’s request was made “to correct the unjust actions by New York courts and stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt.”

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