Trump asks Supreme Court to block sentencing in his hush money case in New York

Washington: Donald Trump has made a last-ditch effort to quash his criminal conviction before he returns to the White House, asking the US Supreme Court to prevent him from being sentenced for falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal with a porn star.

Two days before he is due to be sentenced in the New York “hush money” case, Trump’s lawyers filed an emergency petition in the nation’s highest court to postpone the sentence “to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency and the operations of the federal government”.

Donald Trump in court a New York court in May, during his hush money trial.Credit: Getty Images

Hours later it emerged that Trump had spoken with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito about a former law clerk, raising eyebrows among legal observers.

Trump’s legal appeal comes after presiding judge Juan Merchan last week ordered Trump to be sentenced on Friday (Saturday AEDT) – 10 days before the 78-year-old Republican is sworn in as America’s 47th president – but signalled he would not serve any jail time.

This means Trump will still be the first convicted felon to occupy the White House when he is sworn in on January 20, but would avoid prison, home probation, fines and other sanctions.

Alito said he took Trump’s call on Tuesday afternoon (US time) from Trump at the request of his former law clerk, William Levi, to recommend him for a job in the upcoming administration. The two did not discuss the upcoming emergency motion, or any other court matters, Alito said.

“I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed,” he said in the statement. He and Trump also did not discuss any other matters that could come before the court in the future, the conservative justice said.

Nevertheless, Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonpartisan group Fix the Court, said the call was “an unmistakable breach of protocol”.

“No person, no matter who they are, should engage in out-of-court communication with a judge or justice who’s considering that person’s case,” he said in a statement.

A spokesman for Trump did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Regarding the hush money trial, Trump insists he has done nothing wrong, and in a meandering press conference earlier this week – in which he also threatened to use military force to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal – he hit out at the legal case, describing it as “lawfare” by Democrats.

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.Credit: AP

“It’s called weaponisation of justice and it’s happened at a level no one has ever seen before,” said a visibly annoyed president-elect from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The Supreme Court – which is dominated by conservative judges, including three appointed during his first term – is Trump’s last avenue to thwart the hush money case. If he is unsuccessful, he will have to appear for sentencing either virtually or in person at 9.30am on Friday (NY time).

However, Trump’s lawyers argue that the sentencing should not go ahead at all due to the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling on presidential immunity, which protects presidents and ex-presidents from being charged for things they do as part of their core duties.

Trump was convicted in May after a jury unanimously found him guilty of a criminal conspiracy to “catch and kill” damning stories that could have derailed his chances of becoming president in 2016.

Numerous stories were buried on Trump’s behalf, but the case specifically related to a $US130,000 hush money payment Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, which involved Trump falsifying business records to conceal his actions.

Stormy Daniels recounted having sex with Donald Trump in a hotel room.Credit: Getty

While the payment was brokered before Trump won that election, his lawyers argue that some evidence at trial focused on official actions he took while he was in power during his first term.

The hush money affair was the only criminal case that made it to trial last year. Trump originally faced a trial in Washington, DC, for trying to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, another in Georgia for trying to subvert the election results in that state, and a trial in Florida for mishandling classified documents.

But while Trump has managed to either delay or kill off each of the other cases, he was dealt a blow on Wednesday after he lost a bid to block the release of a potentially damning report by Special Counsel Jack Smith into the Washington election interference case.

Smith had planned to release his final report some time this month before resigning from his position before Trump takes office, when he is expected to be fired by the new administration.

While the report will no longer have legal sway given Trump’s status as president-elect and long-standing Justice Department policy against bringing charges against a sitting president, it is likely to contain explosive details about Trump’s actions as he sought to overthrow Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020.

With AP

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