Donald Trump attended his New York criminal trial last year.
The former president has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and delay his sentencing in the criminal hush money case, which is scheduled for Friday.
The last-minute appeal comes after two lower courts rejected Trump’s attempts to block the proceedings.
Trump’s legal team is now requesting that the nation’s highest court determine whether he is entitled to an automatic stay of his sentencing while he appeals his conviction.
In their filing, his lawyers argued that allowing the sentencing to move forward would result in "grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency."
Trump’s legal team argues that his criminal case should be delayed until the issue of presidential immunity is settled.
In their request, Trump's lawyers asked the judges to consider whether a sitting president’s full immunity from criminal prosecution extends to the president-elect of the United States.
Last year, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision granting U.S. presidents immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office. Trump’s lawyers have argued in Manhattan courts that these immunity protections should also apply to his case in New York. Additionally, they contend that the case should be put on hold due to his expected return to the White House.
Following the filing, the Supreme Court gave Manhattan prosecutors until Thursday morning to respond to Trump’s request. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg commented briefly, stating, "We will respond in court papers."
In May, a jury unanimously convicted Trump of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records after a dramatic six-week trial. The charges stemmed from Trump’s efforts to conceal a $130,000 hush-money payment made to an adult film star who alleged an affair with him.
Prosecutors argued the payment, made just days before the 2016 election, amounted to election interference by preventing a potentially damaging story from reaching voters. Trump denies the affair and any wrongdoing.
Originally scheduled for July, Trump’s sentencing was postponed by Justice Merchan as the presidential election played out. Subsequent sentencing dates in September and November were also delayed. Trump’s legal team has unsuccessfully attempted to have the conviction thrown out entirely.
Justice Juan Merchan recently indicated that he would not consider jail time for Trump, instead leaning toward lower-level punishments.
Parallel Legal Battles
In addition to Wednesday’s emergency petition to the Supreme Court, Trump’s lawyers are also attempting to block the release of a final report from U.S. Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith led two federal prosecutions against Trump—one for alleged election interference in the 2020 election, and the other for mishandling classified documents after leaving office.
Though both cases are effectively closed due to the department’s policy against prosecuting a sitting president, Smith has submitted a final report to the U.S. Attorney General.
Two of Trump’s co-defendants in the classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, have appealed to stop the Justice Department from making the report public. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon temporarily blocked the release of the report and granted their request for a delay. They have also filed an appeal with a higher court.
On Wednesday, the Justice Department urged the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reject Nauta and De Oliveira’s attempt to block the report’s release. In their filing, the department indicated that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland plans to release the first part of the report, which pertains to the election interference case. However, Garland would withhold the section concerning the classified documents investigation while Trump’s remaining co-defendants continue their appeals.
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