Donald Trump’s request for an emergency order to postpone the president-elect’s scheduled sentencing on Friday for the criminal charges in the hush money case was rejected by a judge at the New York appeals court on Tuesday.
After brief arguments between Trump lawyer Todd Blanche and a Manhattan district attorney’s office attorney, Justice Ellen Gesmer denied the emergency stay motion.
At the hearing in the state Appellate Division, a midlevel appeals court, Blanche informed Gesmer, “There has never been a case like this.”
By virtue of his presidential immunity, Blanche contended, Trump “should not have to go through any legal process.”
Gesmer was persuaded to deny the plea by Manhattan District Attorney Steven Wu.
“This is a claim that the president-elect is entitled to immunity, and there is no support for that,” he stated, adding that the “claim is so baseless that there is no basis for any kind of stay here.”
“There is one president at a time,” Wu stated.
Wu was questioned by Gesmer over Trump’s assertion that the hearing would interfere with his transition as president.
Wu replied that it would probably take an hour or so and that it would be virtual.
A sentencing, Blanche said, is “a very big deal.”
A transition official said Trump is not anticipated to attend the sentencing in person.
It seems that Trump will be using the virtual appearance option provided by Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw the hush money trial, if the sentence proceeding Friday morning proceeds as planned.
Prosecutors stated in their brief on Monday that Trump had chosen to appear virtually at his sentencing, but they could not specify where they got that information.
According to Trump’s petition, in order to “avoid ongoing violations of the constitutional rights of President Trump and a threatened disruption of the Presidential transition, a process that directly concerns the United States of America’s national security and vital interests,” the appeals court must immediately grant a stay of any further criminal proceedings in the trial court.
It argued that Trump should not be sentenced because he is already shielded by presidential immunity and that his May verdict should be overturned for further presidential immunity reasons.
Following a thorough oral argument and review of the filed papers, Gesmer noted in a succinct ruling that the movant’s request for an interim stay was refused.
As she left court, Blanche, whom Trump has stated he would select to be deputy attorney general, remained silent.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that month that established a new bar for presidential immunity, Merchan first delayed Trump’s July sentence.
In a decision last month, Merchan concluded that Trump is not immune until he takes the oath of office. In a different ruling last week, he stated his intention to grant Trump an unconditional discharge and ordered his sentencing on 34 felony counts of manipulating company documents to occur on Friday morning. In other words, he would not face any consequences, yet the conviction would remain valid.
Trump’s request for a stay on Monday was denied by Merchan.
In a court filing on Monday, prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that there is no justification for further postponing the sentencing.
The DA’s office further argued that the timing of Trump’s sentencing is the least onerous.
He is not now performing any formal presidential duties that would be interfered with by the sentencing, and as president-elect, he “has no viable claim of presidential immunity from ordinary criminal process,” they wrote.
In May, Trump was found guilty of fabricating documents pertaining to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, during the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has refuted Daniels’ testimony that she had a sexual encounter with him in 2006.
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