Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to delay sentencing in New York hush money case
Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
A divided Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s bid to delay his sentencing in his hush money case in New York.
The court’s order clears the way for Judge Juan M Merchan to impose a sentence on Friday on Mr Trump, who was convicted in what prosecutors called an attempt to cover up a 130,000 dollar (£105,300) hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels.
Mr Trump has denied any liaison with Ms Daniels or any wrongdoing.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined with the court’s three liberals in rejecting his emergency motion.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would have delayed the sentencing, the order states.
The majority found his sentencing would not be an insurmountable burden during the presidential transition since Mr Merchan has indicated he will not give Mr Trump jail time, fines or probation.
Mr Trump said he respects the high court’s order, and will pursue an appeal that could end up before the high court again.
“I respect the court’s opinion — I think it was actually a very good opinion for us because you saw what they said, but they invited the appeal and the appeal is on the bigger issue. So, we’ll see how it works out,” he said at a dinner with Republican governors at his private club in Florida.
Mr Trump’s attorneys have argued that evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Mr Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.
At the least, they have said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Mr Trump during the presidential transition.
Prosecutors pushed back, saying there is no reason for the court to take the “extraordinary step” of intervening in a state case now.
Mr Trump’s attorneys have not shown that an hourlong virtual hearing would be a serious disruption, and a pause would likely mean pushing the case past the January 20 inauguration, creating a years-long delay in sentencing if it happens at all.
Mr Trump’s attorneys went to the justices after New York courts refused to postpone sentencing, including the state’s highest court on Thursday.
Judges in New York have found that the convictions on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to personal matters rather than Mr Trump’s official acts as president. Ms Daniels says she had a sexual encounter with Mr Trump in 2006. He denies it.
Mr Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and they said sentencing him now would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.
Mr Trump is represented by D John Sauer, his pick to be the solicitor general, who represents the government before the high court.
Mr Sauer also argued for Mr Trump in the separate criminal case charging him with trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election that resulted in the Supreme Court’s immunity opinion.
Defence attorneys cited that opinion in arguing some of the evidence used against him in the hush money trial should have been shielded by presidential immunity. That includes testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made while he was in office.
The decision comes a day after Justice Samuel Alito confirmed that he took a phone call from Mr Trump the day before the president-elect’s lawyers filed their emergency motion before the high court. The justice said the call was about a clerk, not any upcoming or current cases.
