President-elect Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court, on Wednesday, to pause proceedings in his New York criminal trial, including sentencing which is set to take place on Friday.
After two failed attempts to block sentencing from occurring, Trump’s lawyers have turned to the highest court in the United States for help.
In an emergency application, Trump’s lawyers said the court should intervene “to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government.”
Sentencing in the case where the president-elect was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York, was going to occur just 10 days before inauguration.
Much like previous requests, lawyers for the president-elect argue all criminal proceedings should be paused because Trump has immunity from criminal prosecution thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. United States in July.
The court’s landmark decision in Trump v. United States determined that sitting presidents are entitled to immunity for “official acts” and so-called acts within the “outer perimeter” while in office. However, they did not define that.
Acting Justice Juan Merchan, the judge who presided over the hush money trial has already said that immunity does not apply to Trump in his criminal case and refused to drop the case or pause sentencing.
Merchan said Trump’s actions in his criminal case were “personal”.
A jury of 12 New Yorkers found Trump guilty of falsifying business records in the state in May. Prosecutors say Trump covered-up hush money payments that he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels leading up to the 2016 presidential election to buy her silence over an alleged affair.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, paid Daniels and Trump reimbursed him over several months, marking the reimbursements as payments for legal fees.
Trump is asking the court to respond to his request by Thursday at 10 a.m.
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