The New York Court of Appeals rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s attempt to stop his sentencing in the state’s hush-money trial against him on Friday.
“Your proposed order to show cause was reviewed by Judge Rivera, who declined to sign the order. As a result of the Judge’s determination, no motion is pending in the above title at the Court of Appeals,” New York’s highest court sent to Trump’s lawyers in a letter.
In filing to the Supreme Court, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Office said Trump did not satisfy “the stringent standards necessary to support the ‘extraordinary remedy’ of a stay.”
“His assertion that any invocation of presidential immunity automatically entitles him to a stay pending appeal is incorrect; this Court must instead consider whether a stay is appropriate for the particular claims of immunity that defendant has raised. Here, neither of defendant’s specific claims comes close to justifying a stay of the forthcoming sentencing,” the Thursday filing said.
“Defendant makes the unprecedented claim that the temporary presidential immunity he will possess in the future fully immunizes him now, weeks before he even takes the oath of office, from all state-court criminal process,” the filing added. “This extraordinary immunity claim is unsupported by any decision from any court. It is axiomatic that there is only one President at a time.”
In May 2024, a New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to hide his reimbursement payment to his former lawyer Michael Cohen who paid pornstar Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Daniels was paid to keep quiet about an alleged affair.
Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts against him.
The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, said he is “unlikely” to sentence the president-elect to jail time.
On Wednesday, Trump submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor will handle his case. Sotomayor, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2009, handles emergency appeals from the Second Circuit court, which includes New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.
Liberty University law professor Phill Kline told The Michael Patrick Leahy Show that he thought Trump’s appeal to the Supreme Court would be successful.
“Just imagine if the president of the United States could be held into court by a local DA with manufactured charges at any point in his presidency. It is extraordinarily harmful to the powers of the presidency. So what the Supreme Court said is, look, anytime the presidential immunity claim is an issue, you’ve got to decide that issue prior to going to trial,” he said.
While attempting to stop his criminal prosecution, Trump has also been attempting to stop the release of Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s January 6 report.
The DOJ said on Wednesday that it will release part of Smith’s report.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected]. Follow Zachery on Twitter @zacheryschmidt2.
Background Photo “New York Supreme Court Building” by wallyg. CC BY 2.0.
