The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President-elect Donald J. Trump’s emergency request to halt criminal sentencing in New York, all but ensuring that Friday’s sentencing will go ahead as planned.
In a brief, unsigned order, the five-judge majority noted that Trump did not face prison time and could still challenge his conviction “during the normal course of appeals.”
While Trump argued that being sentenced 10 days before the inauguration would distract from the presidential transition, the majority argued that “a sentence imposes a relatively small burden on the responsibilities of the president-elect.”
The court’s four conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh — noted the dissent, but No reason was provided.
The court’s ruling means Trump faces 34 felony counts for falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that jeopardized his 2016 presidential campaign.
After a series of unsuccessful legal actions in New York state courts, the former and future president hopes to prevail before a friendlier audience: the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, which included Trump in the first Three judges appointed during the president’s term.
But the court has chosen not to get involved in the case for now, despite having recently helped Trump in a series of other cases. In July, judges derailed another criminal case against Trump in Washington by granting the former president broad immunity for official conduct.
The court’s show of independence in the New York case capped a frantic campaign by the former and future president to avoid an embarrassing sentencing spectacle less than two weeks before the inauguration. After months of delays, the sentencing will now formalize Trump’s conviction and cement his status as the first felon to occupy the Oval Office.
Almost any other defendant would now be sentenced. but Since a jury in May found Trump guilty on all 34 counts he faced, Trump’s lawyers have filed a series of documents seeking to vacate the convictions or at least block sentencing.
Although the judge in the case recently said he would spare Trump jail time or any other substantial punishment, they have stepped up efforts to make any sentence largely symbolic.
Sentencing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the same lower Manhattan courtroom where Mr. Trump was tried last spring. The president-elect has said he plans to attend virtually.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
