New York appeals judge allows Trump sentencing to continue Friday

A New York appeals court judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s request for an emergency order suspending the president-elect’s scheduled Friday sentencing on criminal charges in the financial silence case.

Judge Ellen Gesmer denied the request for an emergency stay following brief arguments between Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, and a lawyer from the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

“There has never been a case like this,” Blanche told Gesmer during the hearing before the state Appellate Division, a mid-level appeals court.

Blanche argued that Trump is already protected by presidential immunity and “should not have to go through any legal process.”

Steven Wu of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office urged the judge to deny the request.

“This is a claim that the president-elect is entitled to immunity, and that has no support,” he said, adding that “this claim is so baseless that it does not “There’s no basis for him to stay here.”

“There is one president at a time,” Wu said.

The judge questioned the DA’s lawyer about Trump’s claim that the proceedings would disrupt his presidential transition.

Wu responded that the procedure would be virtual and would likely take about an hour.

Blanche countered that a conviction is “a very big deal.”

Trump’s motion said the appeals court should grant “an immediate stay of further criminal proceedings” in the trial court in order to “prevent continued violations of President Trump’s constitutional rights and a threatened disruption of the transition presidential election, a process that directly concerns the national security and vital interests of the United States of America. »

He argued that Trump is already protected by presidential immunity and therefore cannot be convicted, and that his conviction in May last year should be overturned on other grounds of presidential immunity.

In a brief ruling, Gesmer wrote: “After review of the submitted documents and lengthy oral argument, Movant’s request for interim suspension is denied. »

Blanche, who Trump announced he would nominate to be deputy attorney general, did not comment as he left court.

Judge Juan Merchan initially postponed Trump’s scheduled sentencing in July last year, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling setting a new standard for presidential immunity that month.

Merchan found in a ruling last month that Trump does not have immunity until he is sworn in as president. In a separate order last week, the judge ordered Trump’s sentencing on 34 counts of falsifying business records to take place Friday morning, and said he planned to grant him an unconditional release. This means that the conviction would stand, but he would not be subject to any sanctions.

Merchan on Monday rejected Trump’s request for a suspension.

Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said in a court filing Monday that there was no reason to further delay the sentencing.

The prosecutor’s office also said now was “the least painful time” for Trump to be sentenced.

As president-elect, he “has no viable claim to presidential immunity from ordinary criminal proceedings” and “is not yet engaged in official presidential duties that could be disrupted by the conviction,” they said. writing.

Trump was convicted in May of falsifying records related to hush money his then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential election Daniels said she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006, a claim he denied.