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THE judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial has denied the president-elect’s last-minute attempt to delay his sentencing.
On Friday, Judge Juan Merchan made a surprise ruling that scheduled Trump’s hush money trial sentencing for January 10, just 10 days before the inauguration, after indefinitely suspending sentencing last November.
The president-elect was found guilty of unprecedented white-collar crimes stemming from paying off porn star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair quiet.
Trump’s lawyers had earlier moved to overturn the decision because he was elected president, but Judge Merchan dismissed the attempts in his ruling on Friday.
However, this time, Trump no longer faces jail time, and the hearing would be over Zoom.
The softened sentencing wasn’t enough for the president-elect’s lawyers, who feel the appeal process should play out completely as they fight for a full overturning of the guilty verdict.
Now, they’re looking to appeal Merchan’s refusal to dismiss the case on presidential immunity grounds.
On Monday, Trump’s lawyers urged the court to “suspend all further deadlines in the case until President Trump’s immunity appeals are fully and finally resolved, which should result in a dismissal of this case.”
The lawyers claimed the charges “should have never been brought in the first place.”
They asked Judge Merchan to respond to their appeal by 2 p.m. Monday. In their filing, the Trump team threatened to seek an “emergency appellate review” if Merchan missed their deadline.
Later that afternoon, the judge squashed the defense’s last-ditch effort for a delay, saying these latest arguments were “a repetition of the arguments he has raised numerous times in the past.”
He then confidently denied the motion to delay the sentencing.
LEGAL TROUBLES
Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records over $130,000 in payments through his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to Daniels.
Trump paid her hush money to keep quiet about an alleged affair they had before the 2016 election, though he claims the tryst never happened.
The sentencing was scheduled for July of last year, but the judge pressed pause on the hearing after the Supreme Court ruled presumptive immunity for anything related to the president’s official duties.
Trump’s lawyers tried to argue that this immunity decision protected the president from the charges, and the sentencing was delayed twice.
However, Judge Mechan eventually decided that the Supreme Court’s ruling did not affect Trump’s case.
He rescheduled the sentencing but delayed it again after Trump’s election win so the defense and prosecution could deliberate the repercussions of having a convicted criminal in office.
Now, the judge is scrambling to close the case before Trump takes office on January 20.
His ruling indicated that he was inclined to give Trump an unconditional discharge sentence, which means the case would be closed without jail time, a fine, or probation.
Throughout Judge Mechan’s deliberations in December, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office filed several motions opposing the dismissal of the conviction.
Bragg, a Democrat, instead suggested freezing the proceedings until after Trump had finished his second presidential term.
Can Trump pardon himself once president?
Neama Rahmani, President of West Coast Lawyers, tells The U.S. Sun about the arguments still available to Trump to stop him being sentenced in the hush money case and if he can pardon himself once president:
Trump can’t pardon himself because it’s a New York state case.
The President can only pardon for federal crimes. There isn’t much Trump can do to get revenge because the judge has broad immunity.
Trump will be sentenced in the New York hush money case on January 10.
Judge Juan Merchan ruled that Trump isn’t immune (presidential immunity), and it will not affect his ability to govern (separation of powers and Supremacy Clause).
Trump is expected to receive a conditional discharge, which means he won’t receive a substantive sentence.
Even though there is a theoretical possibility of imprisonment or probation, they are logistically impractical.
Trump will certainly appeal the conviction to the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, then the New York Court of Appeal, then the Supreme Court.
The real immediate question is whether the Appellate Division will step in to stop next week’s sentencing or if Trump will have to go through the normal appellate process, which will take months.
Trump had some success appealing in the New York civil fraud case, so this story is far from over.
On Sunday, Trump blasted Bragg in a fiery Truth Social post, and claimed the DA didn’t want to bring the case against him in the first place.
“There is no case against me,” Trump claimed.
“It’s all rigged in this case against a political opponent, me.”
Incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung described the sentencing as a “witch hunt” in a cutting statement on Monday morning.
“The Supreme Court’s historic decision on immunity, the state constitution of New York, and other established legal precedent mandate that his meritless hoax be dismissed completely,” he told Fox News.
“The American people elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate that demands an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and all of the remaining witch hunts.
“We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again.”
Later on Monday, Trump blasted President Joe Biden for making last-minute moves that complicated his White House takeover.
He claims his rival is “doing everything possible to make the transition as difficult as possible.”
“From lawfare such as never been seen before to costly and ridiculous executive orders on the Green New scam and other money-wasting hoaxes,” he said on Truth Social.
“Fear not, these ‘orders’ will all be terminated shortly, and we will become a nation of common sense and strength.”
