Donald Trump seeks to cancel hush-money sentencing
Donald Trump’s lawyers argue that the trial judge wrongly scheduled his sentencing before the president-elect’s return to the White House.
Donald Trump has launched an effort to block his hush-money sentencing set for later this week, arguing that the trial judge wrongly scheduled it before the president-elect’s return to the White House.
Lawyers for Mr Trump asked Justice Juan Merchan, who oversaw the trial that led to Mr Trump’s conviction on 34 felonies, to put all proceedings in the case on hold while the president-elect pursues appeals of recent rulings. The lawyers said they also planned to ask a state appeals court to intervene in the matter.
“Forcing the President to defend a criminal case – especially at a sentencing hearing ten days before he is due to become President again,” violates Mr Trump’s presidential immunity, his lawyers wrote in a filing made public Monday.
Merchan last week scheduled the sentencing for this Friday. The judge said he didn’t intend to sentence Mr Trump to a prison term, but rather an unconditional discharge – a sentence with no punishment. Such a sentence would keep the jury’s guilty verdict on the books.
A New York jury last year found Mr Trump guilty of falsifying business records for covering up a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Daniels had alleged she had an affair with Mr Trump, which he denied. Prosecutors said Mr Trump, a tabloid publisher and his former lawyer conspired to influence the 2016 election by buying up negative stories that could hurt the then-candidate’s electoral prospects.
Mr Trump has cast the case as politically motivated. In a series of social-media posts over the weekend, he railed against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who brought the case, and the judge. He said he never falsified business records.
“IT’S ALL RIGGED, in this case against a political opponent, ME!!!” Mr Trump wrote. A spokeswoman for Bragg said prosecutors would file their response with the court this afternoon.
Last week, Merchan also denied Mr Trump’s bid to toss the jury’s verdict. The judge said he had found no legal impediment to sentencing the president-elect, and that the proceeding needed to take place before he is sworn in as president on Jan. 20. Merchan said that Mr Trump could opt to appear virtually for the proceeding.
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