Trump seeks to halt his criminal sentencing in New York
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump’s latest attempt to stave off his criminal sentencing in New York was denied Monday, teeing up a frenzied series of last-minute appeals as his inauguration draws near.
The denial came from the trial judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Merchan, who scheduled the sentencing for Friday, 10 days before Trump is scheduled to be sworn in for a second presidential term.
Although Trump’s lawyers had implored the judge to postpone the sentencing, Merchan dismissed their claims as “a repetition of the arguments he has raised numerous times in the past.”
Trump is now poised to escalate his effort, court filings show, turning to a New York appeals court in hopes that it will intervene in his case.
Late Monday, Trump’s lawyers filed a civil proceeding against Merchan before the appeals court, challenging two of the judge’s recent decisions to uphold Trump’s conviction. Trump’s lawyers will argue to the appeals court that Trump is immune from criminal prosecution now that he is the president-elect.
The flurry of filings demonstrates the great lengths to which Trump will go to avoid his sentencing.
Even though Merchan has signaled that he will spare the former and future president jail time or any other substantive punishment, Trump is scrambling to avoid the symbolic blow of a sentencing. Once he is sentenced for the 34-count conviction, he will formally become a felon.
Trump could also ask the appeals court to freeze the sentencing as soon as Monday night or early Tuesday.
That emergency request would be in the hands of a single appellate judge, who could rule as soon as Tuesday, deciding either to grant or deny an interim stay. While ordinarily that judge’s ruling would only be temporary, the case against the president-elect is running out of time.
Once Trump is sworn in Jan. 20, the proceedings might grind to a halt, potentially making any additional rulings moot. Under a long-standing Justice Department policy, sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution, and although the New York case was brought in state court, not federal, it will most likely follow that precedent.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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