A New York appeals court judge on Tuesday rejected a request to delay this week’s sentencing in US President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money case.
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced Friday after a New York jury in May convicted him on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Associate Justice Ellen Gessmer rejected arguments from Trump’s lawyers that the sentencing should be postponed while the president-elect appeals his conviction.
Trump’s lawyers also claimed that the immunity from prosecution granted to the president should be extended to the president-elect, but Gessmer rejected those arguments as well.
“After consideration of the papers submitted and extensive oral argument, Movant’s application for an interim stay is rejected,” he said.
Trump, who is scheduled to be sworn in as president on Jan. 20, can appeal Gessmer’s decision to the full appellate court bench and potentially to the Supreme Court.
Judge Juan Marchan, who presided over the money laundering case, has given Trump, the first former US President convicted of a crime, the option to appear in person or virtually at Friday’s sentencing.
Merchan has also said that he is not inclined to impose prison sentences on former and future presidents.
Trump lashed out at Merchan during a press conference Tuesday, calling him a “crooked judge” and complaining about the gag order issued in the case.
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to conceal a payment he made to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to prevent her from disclosing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.
Trump was certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election on Monday, four years after his supporters rioted at the US Capitol as he tried to overturn his 2020 defeat.
Trump’s lawyers had sought to dismiss the case on several grounds, including the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last year that former US presidents are immune from prosecution for many official acts committed while in office.
In an 18-page decision last week, Merchan rejected the motions but said Trump would have immunity from prosecution once he is sworn in as president.
He said he was leaning toward granting Trump an unconditional discharge — meaning the New York real estate tycoon would not only avoid the threat of prison, but also any kind of probation.
Yet the sentence would see Trump enter the White House as a convicted felon.
Trump, 78, potentially faces up to four years in prison, but legal experts — even before he won the presidential election in November — did not expect Marchen to send him to prison.
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