WASHINGTON-
A deeply divided U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s final attempt to stay his hush money case in New York, clearing the way for him to be sentenced on serious crimes days before his return to the presidency.
The court’s 5-4 order allows Judge Juan M. Merchán to impose a sentence Friday on Trump, who was convicted in what prosecutors called an attempt to cover up a $130,000 hush payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied any relationship with Daniels or any wrongdoing.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberals in rejecting his emergency motion.
Most felt her sentence would not be an insurmountable burden during the presidential transition, as Merchan has indicated she will not give Trump jail time, fines or probation.
Trump’s lawyers had asked that the sentencing be delayed while he appeals the verdict, but most judges found their arguments can be handled as part of the regular appeals process.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would have delayed sentencing, the order states.
Trump said he respects the high court’s order and will file an appeal that could end up back before the high court. “I respect the court’s opinion; I think it was actually a very good opinion for us because you saw what they said, but they invited the appeal and the appeal is about a bigger issue. So we’ll see how it goes.” “he said at a dinner with Republican governors at his private club in Florida.
The defeat comes after the conservative-majority court handed Trump major victories over the past year, ensuring that states could not kick him off the ballot because of the 2021 Capitol attack and granting him immunity from prosecution for some acts he performed. as president. in a ruling that delayed an election interference case against him.
The justices could also face weighing other parts of the sweeping conservative changes he promised after taking office.
In an attempt to delay sentencing in New York, Trump’s lawyers argued that he has immunity from criminal prosecution as president-elect and said some evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s immunity ruling.
At the very least, they have said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Trump during the transition to the White House.
Prosecutors responded, saying there is no reason for the court to take the “extraordinary step” of intervening in a state case now. Trump’s lawyers did not demonstrate that an hour-long virtual hearing would be a serious disruption, and a pause would likely mean delaying the case beyond the Jan. 20 inauguration, creating a delay that could last at least as long as his presidency.
“We presented a case. A jury of ordinary New Yorkers returned 34 guilty verdicts,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at an unrelated news conference Thursday afternoon. “Our role right now is primarily to continue to give voice to that verdict and respect, as a principle – a fundamental principle of the administration of justice – that the voice of the jury should not be erased.”
Trump’s lawyers went to the judges after New York courts refused to postpone the sentencing, including the state’s highest court on Thursday.
New York judges have determined that convictions for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to personal matters and not to Trump’s official acts as president. Daniels says she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. He denies it.
Trump’s lawyers called the case politically motivated and said sentencing 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 pick to be attorney general, who represents the government before the high court.
Sauer also defended Trump in the separate criminal case accusing him of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which resulted in the Supreme Court’s immunity opinion.
Defense attorneys cited that opinion in arguing that some of the evidence used against him in the hush money trial should have been protected by presidential immunity. That includes testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made while he was in office.
The decision comes a day after Justice Alito confirmed that 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 call was about an employee, not about any upcoming or current case, but the unusual communication prompted calls for Alito to recuse himself, including from the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. Judges make their own decisions about whether to recuse themselves, and Alito still intervened in the case.
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Sisak reported from New York, Hill from Albany, New York. Associated Press writers Mark Sherman, Will Weissert and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
