One divided Supreme Court of the United States on Thursday, the president-elect was rejected that of Donald Trump tried to delay his sentencing in his hush money case in New York.
The court order, 5-4, allows Judge Juan M. Merchan to impose sentence Friday on Trump, who was convicted of what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a secret payment of $130,000 to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied any affair with Daniels or any wrongdoing.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the Court’s three liberals in denying his emergency motion.
They said his conviction would not pose a serious burden since Merchan indicated he would not give Trump jail time, fines or probation. Trump’s arguments against the verdict can be addressed under the regular appeals process, the majority ruled.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh allegedly delayed sentencing, the order said.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated the Supreme Court’s ruling last summer granting Trump broad immunity from prosecution for actions he committed as president.
At least, they said, sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Trump during the presidential transition.
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Prosecutors pushed back, saying there was no reason for the court to take the “extraordinary step” of intervening now in a state case.
Trump’s lawyers have not shown that an hour-long virtual hearing would constitute a serious disruption, and a break would likely mean pushing the case beyond the Jan. 20 inauguration, creating a year-long delay in sentencing, if that happens.
Trump’s lawyers addressed judges after New York courts refused to delay sentencing, including the state’s highest court on Thursday.
New York judges found that the convictions on 34 counts of falsifying business records were related to personal matters rather than Trump’s official actions as president. Daniels says she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006. He denies it.
Trump’s lawyers have called the case politically motivated and said convicting him now would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.
Trump is represented by D. John Sauer, his choice for solicitor general, who represents the government before the high court.
Sauer also defended Trump in a separate criminal case accusing him of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which resulted in the Supreme Court’s immunity notice.
Defense attorneys cited that opinion in arguing that some of the evidence used against him in the secret trial should have been protected by presidential immunity. This includes testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made during his tenure.
The ruling comes a day after Justice Alito confirmed he received a phone call from Trump the day before the president-elect’s lawyers filed their emergency motion with the high court. The judge said the appeal concerned a court clerk and not upcoming or current cases.
Sisak reported from New York, Hill from Albany, New York. Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.
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