The United States Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a last-minute bid by President-elect Donald Trump to halt sentencing in his hush money case.
On a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court, which includes three justices selected by Trump, denied his emergency motion to stop Friday’s sentencing.
The court, in a brief unsigned order, stated that the “burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial” and that Trump will be permitted to attend virtually.
The court also observed that the judge who ruled over the hush money case has already stated that he intends to issue a sentence of “unconditional discharge,” which carries no jail time, fines, or probation.
Trump is due to be sentenced in Manhattan at 9:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) on Friday, after a New York jury convicted him in May on 34 charges of falsifying business documents to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump, 78, who is set to be sworn in as president on January 20, filed an emergency plea with the Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking to delay his sentencing.
Four conservative justices—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh—voted to approve Trump’s plea to halt his sentence.
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the three liberal justices in rejecting the president-elect’s petition.
Trump appointed Barrett, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh.
Trump’s lawyers used multiple legal manoeuvres to avoid sentencing, claiming that it would be a “grave injustice” and destroy “the institution of the presidency and the operations of the federal government.”
Trump’s attorneys also asserted that a president-elect should be afforded the same immunity from prosecution as a current president.
In his answer on Thursday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg rejected their arguments, stating that Trump was a private man when he was “charged, tried, and convicted.”
Bragg further stated that the Supreme Court “lacks jurisdiction over a state court’s management of an ongoing criminal trial” and that stopping the sentencing would be an “extraordinary step” by the court.
“There is no basis for such intervention,” Bragg said.
In the order, the Supreme Court stated that Trump can still challenge his conviction in New York state courts. Judge Juan Merchan stated last week that he was leaning towards awarding Trump an unconditional release with no jail time, fines, or probation.
He also agreed to let him attend Friday’s Manhattan sentencing remotely rather than in person.
He is the first former US president to be convicted of a felony, and he will become the first convicted felon to serve in the White House.
He may face up to four years in prison, but legal experts predicted that Merchan would not imprison him even before he won the November presidential election.
He was confirmed as the winner of the 2024 presidential election on Monday, four years after his supporters rioted at the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat.
