NEW YORK – A New York appeals court judge on Tuesday denied President-elect Donald Trump’s latest attempt to delay this week’s ruling in his hush money case.
In a single-sentence ruling following an emergency hearing, Judge Ellen Gesmer denied Trump’s request for an immediate order that would prevent him from being sentenced while he appeals Judge Juan M. Merchán’s decision last week to uphold the landmark verdict. .
It was the second time in two days that he denied Trump.
Trump went to the Appellate Division of the state’s trial court a day after Merchan rejected his initial attempt to indefinitely postpone sentencing.
Trump’s sentencing remains scheduled for Friday, although he can still ask other courts to intervene.
In an emergency hearing, Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, argued that Trump cannot be sentenced because, as president-elect, he enjoys the same immunity from criminal prosecution as a president.
Merchan had rejected that idea in his ruling last week, and Steven Wu, defending the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said it ran counter to the long-standing concept of one president at a time.
Judge Juan M. Merchán poses for a portrait in his office in New York, on March 14, 2024. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
Trump did not attend the hearing.
Trump, less than two weeks away from his inauguration, is set to be the first president to take office convicted of crimes. If her sentencing does not occur before her second term begins on Jan. 20, presidential immunity could suspend her until she leaves office.
Merchan has signaled that he is not likely to punish Trump for his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and will accommodate the transition by allowing him to appear for sentencing by video, rather than in person in a Manhattan courtroom.
Still, the Republican and his lawyers maintain that his sentence should not go forward because the conviction and accusation should be dismissed. They had previously suggested taking the case all the way to the US Supreme Court.
Judge Juan M. Merchán poses for a portrait in his office in New York, on March 14, 2024. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
Merchan last Friday rejected Trump’s request to overturn his conviction and dismiss the case due to his imminent return to the White House, ruling that Trump’s current status as president-elect does not grant him the same immunity from criminal prosecution as a president in exercise.
Merchan wrote that the interests of justice would only be served by “giving finality to this matter” through sentencing. He said giving Trump what is known as an unconditional release — closing the case without jail time, a fine or probation — “seems to be the most viable solution.”
In her presentation Tuesday, Blanche argued that Merchan’s interpretation of presidential immunity was erroneous and that it should be extended to an elected president during “the complex and delicate presidential transition process.”
“It is unconstitutional to impose a criminal sentence on the president-elect during a presidential transition, and doing so threatens to disrupt that transition and undermine the incoming president’s ability to effectively exercise the executive power of the United States,” Blanche wrote.
Trump’s lawyers are also challenging the judge’s earlier decision rejecting Trump’s argument that the case should be dismissed because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last July that granted presidents broad immunity from prosecution.
Manhattan prosecutors have pushed for the sentencing to proceed as planned, “given the strong public interest in a speedy prosecution and the finality of criminal proceedings.”
Trump was convicted last May on charges related to an alleged scheme to conceal a money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 campaign to prevent her from going public with claims that she had had sexual relations. with him years before. He says his story is false and that he did nothing wrong.
The case centered on how Trump justified reimbursing his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen, who had made the payment to Daniels. The conviction carried the possibility of receiving penalties ranging from a fine or probation to four years in prison.
Trump’s sentencing was initially scheduled for July 11 and was later postponed twice at the defense’s request. After Trump’s election on Nov. 5, Merchan delayed sentencing again so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case.
