Trump asks Supreme Court to block sentencing in his hush money case in New York

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has filed a request with the Supreme Court to halt the sentencing in the "hush money" case, which is scheduled for this Friday in New York. Trump's lawyers made the request to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday (early Thursday AEST) after a New York court refused to postpone the sentencing hearing presided over by Judge Juan M. Merchan. Judge Merchan had overseen Trump's trial last May, when Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump denies any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors are expected to respond on Thursday morning (early Friday AEST). Trump's team is seeking an immediate halt to the scheduled sentencing, arguing that it would improperly restrict his preparations for taking office. Although Judge Merchan has indicated he will not impose a prison sentence, fine, or probation, Trump's lawyers argue that a felony conviction still carries intolerable side effects.

They contend that the sentencing should be postponed to "prevent serious injustice and harm to the presidency and the operations of the federal government" while he appeals the conviction. This emergency motion comes from lawyers John Sauer (Trump's nominee for Deputy Attorney General, who represents the government in the Supreme Court) and Todd Blanche (expected to become the Justice Department's second-ranking official).

They also pointed to a Supreme Court ruling granting broad prosecutorial immunity to Trump and other presidents for actions taken while in office, stating that it supports their argument that Trump's conviction in New York should be overturned. Their filing stated that the New York trial court "lacked jurisdiction to sentence or take any further criminal action against President Trump, including review by this Court as necessary, until the appeal of President Trump’s substantive claim of presidential immunity is resolved."

The Republican president-elect's spokesperson, Steven Cheung, stated in a release that the case is politically motivated and should be dismissed. Trump’s lawyers said that Trump also requested an emergency stay of sentencing from the New York Supreme Court, but as of midday Wednesday (2 a.m. Thursday AEST), the court had not received the relevant documents. Meanwhile, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said it would respond in court filings. This emergency motion has been submitted to Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who handles appeals from New York.

Trump's conviction stems from what prosecutors claim was an attempt to conceal a $130,000 (approximately A$209,500) "hush money" payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, which Trump denies.

The Supreme Court's immunity opinion came from another election interference case against him, but Trump's lawyers said that it means some of the evidence used against him in the "hush money" trial should be protected by presidential immunity. This includes the testimony of some White House aides and social media posts he made while in office. Judge Merchan disagreed, arguing that these were personal matters. The Supreme Court's immunity ruling primarily concerns official actions taken by a president while in office.