N.Y. appellate judge allows Trump’s Friday hush money sentencing to go forward

A New York appeals court judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to obtain an emergency order halting the president-elect’s scheduled Friday sentencing on criminal charges in the hush money case.

Judge Ellen Gesmer denied the request for an emergency stay after brief discussions between Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, and a lawyer from the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

“There has never been a case like this,” Blanche told Gesmer at the hearing in the state Appellate Division, a mid-level appeals court.

Blanche argued that Trump is already protected by presidential immunity and “should not have to go through any legal process.”

Steven Wu of the Manhattan district attorney’s office urged the judge to reject the request.

“This is a claim that the president-elect is entitled to immunity, and there is no support for that,” he said, adding that “the claim is so baseless that there is no basis for any kind of stay here.”

“There is one president at a time,” Wu said.

The judge asked the district attorney’s lawyer about Trump’s claim that the procedure would disrupt his presidential transition.

Wu responded that the procedure would be virtual and would likely last about an hour.

Blanche responded that a sentence is “a very important matter.”

Trump’s petition said the appeals court needed to grant “an immediate stay of any further criminal proceedings” in the trial court to “prevent continued violations of President Trump’s constitutional rights and a threatened disruption of the presidential transition,” a process that directly concerns the national security and vital interests of the United States of America.”

He argued that Trump is already protected by presidential immunity, so he cannot be sentenced, and that his conviction in May of last year should be dismissed on other presidential immunity grounds.

In a brief ruling, Gesmer wrote: “After considering the submitted documents and extensive oral argument, plaintiff’s request for an interim stay is denied.”

Blanche, whom Trump said he would nominate to be deputy attorney general, did not comment as she left court.

Judge Juan Merchán had initially postponed Trump’s planned sentencing in July of last year in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s ruling that set a new standard for presidential immunity that month.

Merchan concluded in a ruling last month that Trump has no immunity until he is sworn in as president. In a separate order last week, the judge ordered Trump’s sentencing on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to be handed down Friday morning, and said he plans to release him unconditionally. That means the conviction would stand, but he would not be subjected to any punishment.

Merchan on Monday rejected Trump’s request for a suspension.

Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said in a court filing Monday that there is no reason to delay sentencing further.

The district attorney’s office also maintained that now is “the least burdensome time” for Trump to be sentenced.

As president-elect, he “has no viable claim to presidential immunity from ordinary criminal process” and is “not yet engaged in any official presidential functions that would be disrupted by the ruling,” they wrote.

Trump was convicted in May of falsifying records related to money his then-attorney Michael Cohen paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential election. Daniels testified that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. , a claim he has denied.



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