(New York) President-elect Donald Trump again tried Tuesday to delay Friday’s scheduled sentencing in his Stormy Daniels bribery case, to avoid finalizing his sentence before returning home. White on January 20.
Mr. Trump has now turned to the Appellate Division of the New York State District Court, a day after trial Judge Juan M. Merchan rejected his attempt to indefinitely postpone the sentencing of the sentence and ordered that it proceed as planned on Friday.
Mr. Trump is seeking an emergency injunction that would prevent him from being convicted while he appeals Judge Merchan’s decision last week to uphold the historic guilty verdict. Oral arguments were expected before a single judge later Tuesday, with a ruling expected shortly thereafter.
A quick decision is necessary “to prevent continued violations” of Mr. Trump’s constitutional rights “and a threatened disruption” of the presidential transition process, the billionaire’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, wrote in a filing with the appeal division.
Mr. Trump, less than two weeks before his inauguration, is poised to become the first president to take office after being convicted of crimes. If his conviction does not occur before the start of his second term on January 20, presidential immunity could suspend him until he leaves office.
Judge Merchan indicated that he would likely not punish Mr. Trump for his guilt on 34 counts of falsifying accounting records and would accommodate the presidential transition by allowing him to appear Friday by video, instead than in person at a Manhattan courthouse.
Still, the Republican and his attorneys argue that sentencing should not proceed because this conviction and indictment should be thrown out. They have already suggested taking the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Presidential immunity or not
Judge Merchan last Friday denied Mr. Trump’s request to vacate the sentencing and dismiss the case due to his imminent return to the White House. It concluded that Mr. Trump’s current status as “president-elect” does not give him the same immunity from criminal prosecution as a “sitting” president.
The judge wrote that the interests of justice would only be served by “finalizing this matter” with a sentence. He said giving Mr. Trump what is called an absolute discharge — closing the case without jail time, fines or probation — “seems to be the most viable solution.”
In his Tuesday file, Me Blanche argued that Judge Merchan’s interpretation of presidential immunity was flawed and should extend to a president-elect during “the complex and sensitive process of presidential transition.”
Donald Trump was convicted last May on charges involving an alleged scheme to hide a cash payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign to prevent her from going public with the allegations. that she had sexual relations with him years earlier. Mr. Trump claims his story is false and that he did nothing wrong.
Mr. Trump was initially scheduled to receive his sentence on July 11, but this announcement was postponed twice, at the request of the defense. After Mr. Trump’s election on November 5, Judge Merchan again delayed sentencing so that the defense and prosecution could argue about the future of the case in these exceptional circumstances.
