The highest court in New York said Thursday it would not prevent the sentencing of President-elect Donald Trump for his crimes, currently scheduled for Friday.
A deputy clerk for Judge Jenny Rivera wrote in a two-sentence letter to Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, that the judge declined to intervene.
Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the so-called “hush money” case.
Trump has also sought an emergency reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming on Wednesday in a filing that evidence shown at trial violated his constitutional rights to presidential immunity. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who oversees requests for emergency relief arising from the 2nd Circuit, ordered Manhattan prosecutors to respond by Thursday morning.
New York prosecutors have told multiple judges this week that they don’t believe sentencing should be delayed.
“Notwithstanding defendant’s past and upcoming service as President, his history, character, and condition — and especially his open disregard for the justice system — do not support dismissal,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s lawyers wrote in a New York filing Thursday.
Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records related to a so-called “hush money” payment to an adult film star just before the 2016 presidential election. That payment was wired before his first presidency, but a unanimous jury concluded that Trump, while president, authorized a scheme to falsify the related records. Trump’s lawyers have argued it was unconstitutional for the jury to be shown evidence and testimony from the years when Trump was in office.
