Trump asks judge to halt sentencing in his criminal hush money case

(NEW YORK) — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday asked the judge overseeing his criminal hush money case in New York to halt his sentencing in the case, currently set for Friday.

Judge Juan Merchan, in a ruling last week, ordered Trump to appear for sentencing, either in person or virtually, on Jan. 10 following his May conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Trump was found guilty in May of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

In a court filing Monday, Trump’s attorneys argued Merchan “will lack authority to proceed with sentencing” because Trump is still appealing Merchan’s earlier ruling that the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision does not apply to the New York hush money case.

“Forcing a President to continue to defend a criminal case — potentially through trial or, even more dramatically here, through sentencing and judgment — while the appellate courts are still grappling with his claim of immunity would, in fact, force that President ‘to answer for his conduct in court’ before his claim of immunity is finally adjudicated,” defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote.

Merchan initially scheduled the sentencing for July 11 before pushing it back in order to weigh if Trump’s conviction was impacted by the Supreme Court’s July ruling prohibiting the prosecution of a president for official acts undertaken while in office. Merchan subsequently ruled that Trump’s conviction related “entirely to unofficial conduct” and “poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch.”

Merchan last week indicated that he would sentence Trump to an unconditional discharge, effectively a blemish on Trump’s record, saying it struck a balance between the duties of president and the sanctity of the jury’s verdict.

Trump’s attorneys said it did not matter.

“It is of no moment that the Court has suggested an intention to impose a sentence of unconditional discharge. While it is indisputable that the fabricated charges in this meritless case should have never been brought, and at this point could not possibly justify a sentence more onerous than that, no sentence at all is appropriate based on numerous legal errors — including legal errors directly relating to Presidential immunity that President Trump will address in the forthcoming appeals,” the defense said.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment on Monday’s filing.

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