Mr. Trump asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the ‘hush money’ case

“President Donald Trump is performing the most important and sensitive tasks of preparing to assume executive power in less than two weeks. All of these are very important to national security and the interests of life.” of the United States,” President-elect Donald Trump’s legal team wrote in a petition to the US Supreme Court on January 8.

The lawyer group said that the New York court forcing Mr. Trump to face sentencing as he prepares to take office as US President is “unconstitutional and destructive of important national interests.”

Therefore, they asked the Supreme Court to immediately order the court in New York to postpone sentencing against Mr. Trump, until petitions related to presidential immunity are resolved.

Mr. Trump’s legal team’s request for intervention will be forwarded to Sonia Sotomayor, a Supreme Court judge who specializes in handling urgent matters arising from New York. She can make decisions unilaterally, or put them to a vote before all Supreme Court judges.

Sotomayor asked the New York prosecutor to respond to a request from Mr. Trump’s legal team before 10 a.m. on January 9, less than 24 hours before the judge in this state pronounced the sentence.

The Court of Appeals in New York on January 7 rejected Mr. Trump’s request to postpone sentencing in the hush money payment case to porn star Stormy Daniels, although the President-elect’s lawyer argued that immunity Lawsuits against the incumbent president can be applied during the transition period, from the moment the candidate wins the election to the inauguration.

Mr. Trump was found guilty by a New York jury at the end of May 2024 of falsifying business records to pay for information related to porn star Daniels before the 2016 election. This crime carries a sentence. Up to 4 years in prison, but even before Mr. Trump was elected, legal experts predicted that Judge Merchan would not impose a prison sentence.

The case made Mr. Trump the first person to serve as US president as a person with a felony and be convicted.

Steven Cheung, Mr. Trump’s spokesman, said the legal team had asked the Supreme Court to “correct the unreasonable actions of the New York court and prevent illegal sentencing.”

Mr. Trump is expected to be sentenced by a New York court on January 10, 10 days before the inauguration. Judge Juan Merchan, the main judge in the New York trial, said he did not want to impose a prison sentence on Mr. Trump and may grant an unconditional pardon. This means that Mr. Trump will be found guilty, but will not be detained, fined or placed on probation.