On May 30, 2024, former US President Donald Trump and his lawyer Todd Branch were interviewed by the media at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City as they went to face a criminal trial on charges of covering up hush money payments.
Michael M. Santiago | Michael M. Santiago Reuters
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s request to halt proceedings in his New York criminal hush-money case, clearing the way for him to be sentenced on Friday morning.
this 5-4 decision Hours after the New York State Supreme Court of Appeals opened refuse to delay Trump’s sentencing.
In a brief order, the court said Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would grant Trump’s request for an emergency stay.
The order said the majority believed Trump’s sentence would impose a “relatively small” burden on his duties as president because he was expected to receive a sentence that would carry no actual punishment.
The five justices — Chief Justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett and liberals Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — was also unswayed by Trump’s arguments about using certain evidence in criminal trials.
According to the order, the majority ruled that these alleged evidentiary irregularities “can be resolved in the ordinary course of appeal.”
Last May, Trump was found guilty in Manhattan state court of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump’s lawyers argued in a Supreme Court filing on Wednesday that all further proceedings should be stayed while the president-elect appeals his New York conviction.
They wrote in the 51-page document that the case should be stayed to “prevent serious injustice and harm to the operations of presidential agencies and the federal government.”
They believe President-elect Trump is immune from criminal prosecution. New York trial court Judge Juan Melchan rejected the claim.
They also argue that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office violated Trump’s immunity by using evidence of Trump’s official presidential conduct during the hush-money trial.
In July last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the former president enjoyed “presumptive immunity” for all official acts while in office, greatly expanding the scope of presidential immunity.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg responded earlier Thursday that there was “no basis” for the Supreme Court to intervene in the case.
The president-elect’s legal team includes several people selected for senior Justice Department positions in the next administration.
one New York Court of Appeals and state supreme court Both men rejected Trump’s proposal to suspend Friday morning’s sentencing hearing.
Momo has repeatedly delayed sentencing Trump before and after the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The judge is expected to impose an “unconditional discharge” sentence, meaning Trump will not be subject to jail time, probation, fines or any other conditions.
Wednesday afternoon, abc news It was first reported that Trump spoke with conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito the day before the president-elect asked the court to immediately halt the trial.
Alito confirms The Tuesday afternoon call did take place, but the statement said the hush-money case was not mentioned.
“We did not discuss the emergency petition he filed today, and in fact, at the time we spoke, I had no idea such a petition would even be filed,” Alito said.
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
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