On April 26, 2024, former US President Trump sat in the court during his hush money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Michael M. SantiagoGetty Images
Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump are seeking to block his sentencing later this week in a New York criminal hush-money case, according to a new court motion.
Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Mercan in motions unsealed Monday that they will appeal Trump’s ruling denying their efforts to dismiss the criminal case.
The motion argued that the appeal should automatically stay the verdict that was scheduled for Friday, and if Merchin disagreed, he should still allow Trump to immediately stay the proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal. The appeal could take months to resolve.
In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
Merchants said last week that he was not inclined to jail Trump in the case and suggested he would impose a sentence that would not include probation or a fine.
That same day, Merchant rejected arguments that he should dismiss the case because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said presidents enjoy presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions while serving in the White House and because of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. .
“Today, President Trump’s legal team took action to stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan District Attorney’s witch hunt,” Trump spokesman Steven Chang said in a statement on Monday.
“The Supreme Court’s historic immunity decision, the New York State Constitution and other established legal precedents all require the immediate rejection of this baseless hoax,” Zhang said.
Trump is scheduled to be sworn in at the White House on January 20 to begin his second non-consecutive term.
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