Trump asks US Supreme Court to halt sentencing in New York hush-money case

Donald Trump, the president-elect of the United States, has requested that the Supreme Court halt the prosecution of his New York criminal case involving hush-money payments to an adult film star.

Just two days before Trump’s scheduled sentencing in the case, the court filing from Wednesday was released.

In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records on 34 felony counts in May, according to prosecutors.

Last week, Judge Juan Merchan ordered the sentencing to take place on Friday, just 10 days before Trump takes office.

Trump’s attorneys requested a quick stay of the sentencing in a Supreme Court filing to stop “grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency and the federal government’s operations.”

A stay in this case would allow Trump to continue his ongoing legal challenge. Prosecutors were required to respond to the request by Thursday, according to the Supreme Court.

According to Trump’s attorneys, some of the evidence in the case should not have been presented because of the Supreme Court’s ruling last year, which granted presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution.

They have pushed for the expungement of the conviction.

Following two lower courts’ rejection of Trump’s request for a stay, the Supreme Court, the top court in the US, has filed the appeal.

Historic conviction

Trump became the first former US president to be charged in New York as a result of the case. He will re-elect as the first person to hold a criminal conviction for the first time.

In addition, Trump has been charged with three other criminal counts, including one federal one involving the investigation of efforts to overturn the 2020 election, one federal case involving the concealment and hoarding of classified White House documents, and one other case involving attempts to overturn the election results in Georgia.

Trump’s victory in the election was, in part, the federal court case’s death knell because the department of justice’s longstanding policy prevents presidents from prosecuting themselves while in office.

Following Trump’s victory, US Special Counsel Jack Smith requested that both cases be dropped.

The case’s future in Georgia is also uncertain because the top prosecutor was recently removed by a state appeals court. While Trump is in office, it is thought that the state case is unlikely to progress despite the state case’s restrictions.

Trump’s victory in the 2024 election also sparked controversies about how his New York sentencing would be affected.