Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media with his attorney Todd Blanche during his criminal trial on charges of concealing hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on May 30, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | via Reuters
US supreme court On Thursday, he narrowly rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s request to halt proceedings in his New York criminal hush money case, clearing the way for a verdict to be delivered Friday morning.
Two conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, joined liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. 5-4 decision Opposed to President Trump’s emergency stay proposal.
Other conservative justices, Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, would have granted the president-elect’s request, the court said in a short order.
The majority found that Trump’s sentencing would impose a “relatively minor” burden on the president’s responsibility because, according to the executive order, Trump is expected to be sentenced without actual punishment.
The five justices were also unfazed by President Trump’s claims about the use of certain evidence in criminal trials.
According to the order, the majority determined that these alleged evidentiary violations “can be addressed through the normal course of appeals.”
In opposing the stay, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office argued that the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction over the case because Trump had not exhausted his appeals of his conviction in state court.
Supreme Court decision He appeared hours later before the New York State Supreme Court of Appeals. refused to delay Sentencing.
President Trump said, “I respect the court’s opinion.”
“I actually think it was a very good opinion for us, because you saw what they said, and they called for an appeal,” Trump said at a roundtable event attended by 22 Republican governors. .
“We are going to appeal. [the conviction] In any case, it’s just psychological,” Trump said. “Because, frankly, it’s shameful.”
Trump was found guilty last May in state court in Manhattan on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the $130,000 hush money he paid to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. I received it.
Trump’s lawyers argued in a Supreme Court filing Wednesday that all further proceedings should be stayed while the president-elect appeals the ruling.
The lawsuit should be discontinued to “prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency and the operation of the federal government,” they wrote in a 51-page filing.
They argued that Trump would not face criminal charges as president-elect. New York District Court Judge Juan Marchand rejected that argument.
The lawyers also argued that Manhattan prosecutors violated Trump’s immunity by using evidence of his official conduct during the hush money trial.
Last July, the Supreme Court significantly expanded the scope of presidential immunity, ruling that former presidents enjoy “constructive immunity” for all official acts while in office.
Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg argued in a Thursday filing that there is “no basis” for the Supreme Court to intervene in the case.
The president-elect’s group of lawyers includes several selected for top positions at the Justice Department in the incoming administration.
a New York Court of Appeals and state supreme court Both men rejected Trump’s proposal to suspend Friday morning’s sentencing hearing.
Marchand had already postponed Trump’s sentencing multiple times before and after the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The judge is expected to rule on “unconditional release,” meaning Trump will not be sentenced to prison, probation, fines or other conditions.
Wednesday afternoon, ABC News It was first reported that President-elect Trump met with conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito the day before he asked the court for an immediate stay.
Alito confirmed He said in a statement that he received a call Tuesday afternoon, but that the hush money issue was not brought up.
“We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today. In fact, at the time of our conversation, we did not even know such a application would be filed,” Alito said.
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
