Attorneys for President-elect Donald Trump asked a New York judge on Monday to delay his sentencing on Jan. 10 in his “hush money” criminal case. Trump’s lawyers had again appealed Justice Juan Merchan’s decision to deny Trump’s bids to dismiss the case due to presidential immunity and the demands of the presidential transition period. Merchan had set the sentencing date for this Friday, stating that Trump, 78, would be unlikely to face jail or other legal consequences. Judge Merchan said Trump may appear at his sentencing either in person or virtually.
The ‘hush money’ case involves a $130,000 payment Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. After a six-week trial in state criminal court in Manhattan, a jury in May found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying records to mask the payment prior to the 2016 election.
Late on Monday, however, the request from Trump’s legal team was denied by Merchan, who wrote that Trump’s arguments “are for the most part, a repetition of the arguments he has raised numerous times in the past,” adding that they “are for the most part, factually distinguishable from the actual record or legally inapplicable.”
On Monday afternoon, Trump’s attorneys filed an appeal with a New York appellate court seeking to overturn Merchan’s rulings that upheld Trump’s conviction. Trump’s lawyers did not ask the appeals court to intervene in the sentencing, but may do so if Merchan sentences Trump on Friday. Trump’s attorneys wrote in the filing with the appeals court Monday: “Justice Merchan’s erroneous decisions threaten the institution of the Presidency and run squarely against established precedent disallowing any criminal process against a President-Elect, as well as prohibiting the use of evidence of a President’s official acts against him in a criminal proceeding,” (per CNN.)
Trump’s spokesperson Steven Cheung reiterated in a statement to CBS News that Trump’s return to the White House requires “an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and all of the remaining Witch Hunt. The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the state constitution of New York, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed.”
Sentencing has been delayed repeatedly in the months since – after being initially scheduled for July 11, a Sept. 18 sentencing date was set – and then pushed back after Trump asked to move it until after the election. The new sentencing date for Nov. 26 was delayed again after Trump won the presidential election, and Trump’s team filed another motion to dismiss, saying it was unconstitutional to hold criminal proceedings related to a president-elect.
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