President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court Wednesday to block his sentencing scheduled for this week.
Judge Juan Merchan set Trump’s sentencing for Friday, explaining there is “no legal impediment” to imposing a sentence before inauguration.
Trump urged Merchan to cancel the sentencing on Monday in light of his appeal. A New York appeals court denied Trump’s request to block the sentencing on Tuesday.
“This appeal will ultimately result in the dismissal of the District Attorney’s politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from the very beginning, centered around the wrongful actions and false claims of a disgraced, disbarred serial-liar former attorney, violated President Trump’s due process rights, and had no merit,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the emergency application to the Supreme Court. “In the meantime, the New York trial court lacks authority to impose sentence and judgment on President Trump—or conduct any further criminal proceedings against him—until the resolution of his underlying appeal raising substantial claims of Presidential immunity, including by review in this Court if necessary.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor requested a response from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg by 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Merchan indicated in his ruling last week that he would not impose a jail sentence, writing that a “sentence of an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality and allow Defendant to pursue his appellate options.”
“[T]his Court recognizes the importance of considering and balancing the seemingly competing factors before it: ensuring that the Executive Branch is free to fully dispense the duties of the President and safeguard the interests of the Nation, unencumbered by pending criminal proceedings; to ensure that the Supreme Court’s ruling and the citizenry’s expectation be honored that all are equal and no one is above the law; and the importance of protecting the sanctity of a jury verdict,” Merchan wrote in the ruling. “This Court is simply not persuaded that the first factor outweighs the others at this stage of the proceeding, either on its own or in conjunction with the other Clayton factors.”
Trump Communications Director Steven Cheung said the Supreme Court’s “historic decision on Immunity, the Constitution, and established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed.”
“The American People elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate that demands an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and all of the remaining Witch Hunts,” Cheung said in a statement. “We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again.”
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