Trump asks court to postpone sentencing ahead of inauguration

President-elect Donald Trump has asked a New York judge to stay the ruling in the illicit money case, which is considered tantamount to murder. Scheduled for January 10.

His lawyers announced on Monday that Trump will appeal Judge Juan Merchan’s decision, which orders the sentence to continue.

In court filings, Trump’s lawyers wrote that they would seek to “dismiss this politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from the beginning.”

Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May 2024, making him the first former president to be convicted of a crime.

The charges stemmed from Trump’s attempt to hide hush hush money refunds to an adult movie star as legal expenses.

Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. His lawyers said filing the appeal should halt criminal proceedings in his case in New York.

Sentencing has been repeatedly delayed by the 2024 presidential election and Trump’s attempt to throw out the case based on a claim of presidential immunity. Ultimately, Judge Merchan rejected the immunity argument in December.

On January 3, Judge Merchan issued an order saying he would move forward with sentencing before Trump takes office, but wrote that he would not consider any prison sentence.

Trump was ordered to attend the session virtually or in person.

“The American people elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate demanding an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and all remaining witch hunts,” said Stephen Cheung, Trump’s presidential transition spokesman.

Trump’s team has not commented publicly on whether the president-elect will appear in court, but in its response Monday afternoon to the request for a stay of execution, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office cited the defendant’s “decision to appear for sentencing virtually rather than in person.” . The reference to the virtual hearing was repeated again several pages later.

In his response, the prosecutor asked the judge to reject Trump’s request for an immediate suspension of his sentence, and said that he would not be affected by such a decision.

The weeks after the election saw a flurry of legal briefs from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted the case, and Trump’s legal team.

Bragg’s office had previously indicated that they would not oppose postponing Trump’s sentencing until after the end of his term in office, that is, four years from now.

But after Judge Merchan decided to go ahead with sentencing, Bragg asked the judge to go ahead with sentencing on Friday.

In his order last week, Judge Merchan wrote that “this court has a firm belief that only by finalizing this matter” will the existing legal impasses be resolved.

However, the judge left open the possibility that Trump would seek to appeal the ruling, writing that he “should be allowed the benefit of every available appeal.”