JUST IN: SCOTUS Issues Ruling On Trump’s Attempt To Delay Sentencing
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied President-elect Trump’s petition to block his Friday sentencing in the dubious “hush money” case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Chief Justice John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberal Justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, in denying the motion.President-elect Trump filed an emergency petition to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday in an effort to prevent his January 10 sentencing, which was scheduled by Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan less than a month before inauguration day.
“The application for stay presented to Justice Sotomayor and by her referred to the Court is denied for, inter alia, the following reasons. First, the alleged evidentiary violations at President-Elect Trump’s state-court trial can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal,” the order states. “Second, the burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of unconditional discharge’ after a brief virtual hearing,” the court ruled.
The order further noted that “Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, Justice Gorsuch, and Justice Kavanaugh would grant the application.” Trump needed five votes to secure a delay, suggesting that Chief Justice Roberts and the Trump-appointed Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberals in denying the application. Trump’s sentencing is now expected to move forward as scheduled, with the president-elect expected to appear virtually for the proceeding at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, according to a report from Fox News.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to press before the start of civil fraud trial brought by NYS Attorney General Letitia James at NYS court in New York on October 2, 2023
Trump was convicted of 34 counts of “falsifying business records” in a case marred by allegations of political bias and selective prosecution. In order to charge the president-elect with a felony for what would generally be a misdemeanor bookkeeping violation, Bragg claimed that Trump conspired to falsify business records for payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in an effort to conceal another crime. The D.A.’s office never identified the supposed underlying crime, while Judge Juan Merchan told jurors that they did not have to agree on what the never identified crime even was.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office. Trump’s lawyers, in their petition to the high court, said it should “immediately order a stay of pending criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York, pending the final resolution of President Trump’s interlocutory appeal raising questions of Presidential immunity, including in this Court if necessary.”
“The Court should also enter, if necessary, a temporary administrative stay while it considers this stay application,” the filing added.
