Supreme Court rejects Trump's proposal to suspend sentencing in hush money case

Watch: Trump reacts to Supreme Court's refusal to stop convictions in hush-hush cases

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected President-elect Donald Trump's last-minute attempt to stay sentencing in the secrecy criminal case.

Trump had urged the highest court to determine whether he was entitled to an automatic stay of his sentence, but the justices rejected the request by a 5-4 vote.

Trump was convicted of falsifying records to conceal reimbursements for a secret $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in legal fees in 2016.

Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, indicated he would not consider a prison sentence for Trump.

Reacting Thursday evening, the president-elect told reporters the case was a “disgrace,” even though the Supreme Court's decision was “a fair decision, actually.”

“This is a judge who should not have handled the case,” he said, apparently referring to Judge Merchan, adding “they can have fun with their political opponent.”

“The pathetic, dying remnants of the witch hunt against me will not distract us,” he later posted on his Truth Social platform.

Two of the Supreme Court's conservative justices — John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett — joined the three liberals in rejecting Trump's request for a delay.

The four remaining justices – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh – would have allowed Trump's proposal to delay sentencing.

Alito was criticized for speaking to Trump just a day before the ruling in a phone call when the top justice recommended one of his former lawyers for a job in the new president's administration.

Three lower courts in New York rejected Trump's attempt to delay before the Supreme Court made its final decision Thursday evening to let the sentencing proceed as scheduled.

The justices denied Trump's request because they believed his concerns could be addressed in an appeal.

They also wrote that the burden of attending the sentencing was “insignificant.”

Trump's lawyers had also asked the Supreme Court to determine whether presidents-elect have immunity from criminal prosecution.

Manhattan prosecutors had urged the Supreme Court to deny Trump's motion, arguing that there was a “compelling public interest” in sentencing and that there was “no basis for such intervention.”

Following the jury's guilty verdict in May 2024, Trump was initially scheduled to be sentenced in July, but his lawyers successfully persuaded Judge Merchan to delay sentencing three times.

Last week, Judge Merchan said sentencing would be moved up to January 10, just days before Trump is sworn in as president again.

Since then, Trump's lawyers have appealed and filed lawsuits in court to try to avoid conviction.

But New York courts quickly rejected the offers. Finally, on Wednesday, Trump's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to intervene.

The court should stay the proceedings “to avoid serious injustice and damage to the institution of the presidency and the operations of the federal government,” they wrote.

Last year, the 6-3 conservative majority handed Trump a major victory, ruling that U.S. presidents enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for “official acts” performed in the line of duty. .

The move gutted federal charges against Trump over charges of illegally interfering in the outcome of the 2020 election, which he denied and pleaded not guilty to.

But since his re-election, Trump's lawyers have tried to persuade a series of judges that these protections of presidential immunity should also apply to a president-elect in this Manhattan criminal case.

Manhattan prosecutors argued in their own brief to the Supreme Court that “Trump's request for extraordinary immunity is not supported by any decision of any court.”

“It stands to reason that there is only one president at a time,” prosecutors wrote.

Separately, a group of former officials and legal scholars filed an amicus brief – effectively a letter of support – with the Supreme Court, asking the justices to reject Trump's “attempt to avoid accountability.” “.

In another legal setback for Trump on Thursday, a federal appeals court in Georgia rejected an attempt to block the release of part of special counsel Jack Smith's report on Trump's alleged plot to prevent the transfer power to Joe Biden after the 2020 elections.

Lawyers for Walt Nauta, a former aide, and former Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira had argued that the release would unfairly prejudice potential future criminal charges against them.

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