Trump demands his hush money conviction is thrown out with just days until sentencing
- Donald Trump will be sentenced on Friday, ten days before his inauguration
- His lawyers went to New
Donald Trump launched another eleventh attempt on Tuesday to have his hush money case dismissed, days before he was due to be sentenced.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the judge in the case, Juan Merchan, ruled that Friday’s sentencing should go ahead as planned.
In response, Trump’s lawyers submitted their plea to the New York appeals court on Tuesday morning, asking for the case to be dismissed.
It relies on a recent Supreme Court ruling that grants presidents some immunity.
“Judge Merchan’s erroneous decisions threaten the institution of the presidency and run directly counter to established precedent that prohibits any criminal proceeding against a president-elect or the use of evidence of a president’s official actions against him in criminal proceedings ‘, they write. .
The president-elect has maintained throughout the case that he is the victim of a political witch hunt.
A jury in New York in April found the former president guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records for trying to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
During the six weeks of his trial, he moved his election campaign to Manhattan. Supporters gathered outside the courthouse every day, and political allies, members of Congress and aides joined him in the courtroom in a show of force.
A jury found Trump guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying company records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet
Stormy Daniels in January 2024, weeks before she gave testimony at Trump’s trial
His subsequent re-election created a conundrum for Judge Juan Merchan as he tried to balance doling out punishment with the constitutional difficulty of jailing a president.
On Monday, Trump’s lawyers asked him in a 17-page ruling to delay sentencing this week pending an appeal.
“Violations of presidential immunity cannot be ignored in favor of hasty sentencing prior to the inauguration,” his lawyers wrote.
Merchan responded by saying he would move forward with the sentencing and that their arguments were largely “a repetition of the arguments he has made numerous times in the past.”
He has previously said he will not send Trump to prison, opting instead for a conditional discharge.
That means Trump will remain a convicted felon, but without even a fine or probation when he is sworn in as president ten days later, on January 20.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said after Monday’s ruling: “Today, President Trump’s legal team took action to stop the unlawful conviction in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Witch Hunt.
“The Supreme Court’s landmark decision on immunity, the New York State Constitution, and other established legal precedents demand that this worthless hoax be immediately dismissed.”