The US Supreme Court has rejected Donald Trump’s last-minute bid to halt his sentencing on Friday in the criminal hush-money case.
Recall that Trump had made an appeal to the top court to consider whether he was entitled to an automatic stay of his sentencing, but the justices had rejected the application by 5-4.
Trump was found guilty of falsifying records to disguise reimbursements for a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels as legal fees back in 2016.
Justice Juan Merchan, who is supervising the case, has said he will not consider a jail term for Trump.
The president-elect who reacted strongly to this told reporters on Thursday evening that the case was a “disgrace”, although the Supreme Court decision was a “fair decision, actually.”
Two of the Supreme Court’s conservative justices – John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett – had allied with three liberals to deny Trump’s request for a delay.
The rest of the four judges – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh – would have permitted Trump’s bid to postpone sentencing.
Three lower New York courts had also rejected Trump’s delay attempt before the Supreme Court made its final decision on Thursday evening to let the sentencing proceed as scheduled.
According to the justices, Trump’s petition was denied because they believed his concerns could be addressed during an appeal.
Following the jury’s guilty verdict in May 2024, Trump was originally set to be sentenced in July, but his lawyers successfully convinced Justice Merchan to delay the sentencing on three separate occasions.
Last week however, Justice Merchan declared the sentencing would move forward on 10 January, just days before Trump is due to be sworn in again as president.
Since his re-election, Trump’s lawyers have tried to convince a series of judges that the presidential immunity protections should also apply to a president-elect in this particular Manhattan criminal case.
