Judge denies Trump request to stop sentencing ahead of inauguration

A New York judge will not delay sentencing next Friday for President-elect Donald Trump in the hush money case.

Judge Juan Merchan said the ruling would stand because Trump’s arguments against him “are mostly a repetition of arguments he has made many times in the past.”

In court filings, Trump’s lawyers said they were seeking “to dismiss this politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from the beginning.” His legal team is seeking a hearing on this matter before the Court of Appeal.

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

“The defendant’s motion to stay these proceedings, including the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025, is denied,” Judge Merchan wrote in his decision Monday.

The charges stemmed from Trump’s attempt to hide a $130,000 payment 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 on January 20, but made clear he would not consider any detention period.

He indicated that he would instead issue an “unconditional release” sentence, which means no jail time, no fine or probation.

Judge Merchant ordered Trump to appear virtually or in person at the hearing.

Stephen Cheung, spokesman for Trump’s presidential transition, repeated his argument that the trial was illegal.

“The American people elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate demanding an immediate end to the use of our justice system as a political weapon and all remaining witch hunts,” he said in a statement.

Trump’s team has not commented publicly on whether the president-elect will appear in court on Friday.

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 brought the case, and Trump’s legal team.

The Prague 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 the existing legal impasses will only be resolved by finalizing this matter.”

However, the judge left the door open to further legal challenges by Trump, writing that he “should be allowed the benefit of every available appeal.”