AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
President-elect Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his looming sentencing in the New York criminal hush money case in an unprecedented request could provide immunity to future president-elects.
Friday’s sentencing would cap months of courtroom battles over a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, which Trump’s opponents say was designed to bolster his 2016 campaign.
Trump’s legal team insisted the state judge has no authority to impose punishment until all avenues of presidential immunity have been addressed.
“This Court should enter an immediate stay of further proceedings in the New York trial court to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in their filing.
The plea follows a New York appeals court’s decision to reject any postponement of the January 10 sentencing.
Found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, Trump now urges the Supreme Court to determine whether a president-elect enjoys “the same immunity as a sitting president.” If granted, this unique argument could shield future presidents-elect from criminal liability and place new limits on how executive power is defined.
Trump’s filing, however, argued: “This appeal will ultimately result in the dismissal of the District Attorney’s politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from the very beginning, centered around the wrongful actions and false claims of a disgraced, disbarred serial-liar former attorney, violated President Trump’s due process rights, and had no merit.”
New York Judge Juan Merchan previously dismissed concerns that the conviction intrudes on presidential duties, calling the case tied “entirely to unofficial conduct” and affirming it “poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch.”
In a statement to CBS News White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe following the appeal to the Supreme Court, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung slammed the case as a “meritless hoax”:
President Trump’s legal team filed an emergency petition with the United States Supreme Court, asking the Court to correct the unjust actions by New York courts and stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt. The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the Constitution, and established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed. The American People elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate that demands an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and all of the remaining Witch Hunts. We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again.
