Newly elected President Donald J. Trump has indicated he plans to launch a full-scale legal attack in New York to block his criminal conviction, seeking a last-minute reprieve before becoming the first sitting president who is a convicted felon.
With sentencing scheduled for Friday, just 10 days before the presidential inauguration, Mr. Trump’s lawyers have requested the judge overseeing his case to postpone the proceedings, according to a court filing released on Monday.
Although that request has likely failed — the judge, Juan M. Marchan, was the one who decided the sentence — Mr. Trump’s lawyers revealed in filings that they planned to step up their effort. The filing said that if the judge does not put the sentence on hold by 2 p.m. Monday, Mr. Trump “will seek emergency appellate review.”
Mr Trump’s lawyers plan to file a civil action against Justice Merchan and seek a stay of sentencing, hoping to persuade the New York appeals court to intervene, according to the filing. It’s unclear when they will file that action with the appellate court, but it could come as soon as Monday.
Even though Justice Merchan has indicated he would spare the former and future president any substantive punishment, Mr Trump is struggling to avoid the symbolic shock of punishment. Once Mr. Trump is sentenced on the 34-count conviction, he will formally become a convicted felon.
In a filing before Justice Merchen on Monday, Mr Trump’s lawyers argued that a punishment would also detract from his presidential duties.
“This Court’s decision to schedule a sentencing hearing for January 10, 2025, at the height of the presidential transition and 10 days before President Trump takes office, makes it necessary for President Trump to defend his criminal case while in office. Will be forced to continue doing. ,” wrote his attorneys, Todd Blanch and Emil Bove.
In the same filing, Mr Trump’s lawyers indicated they also planned to challenge Justice Merchan’s decision last month to uphold his conviction. Preserving the jury verdict from May, the judge rejected Mr Trump’s argument that a recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity from his conviction for falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal. Was cancelled.
Mr Trump’s lawyers said they planned to appeal Justice Merchan’s rulings and file action against her in the form of a so-called Article 78 petition, which is used to challenge decisions made by New York state agencies and judges. There is a special action to be taken. In essence, the President-elect will bring a civil case against the judge to undermine his recent decisions to uphold the conviction and set sentencing.
The appellate court can act swiftly. An appellate judge could rule on the pleas as soon as Monday and decide whether to grant or reject an interim stay on sentencing. While normally the judge’s ruling would be only temporary — a full panel of appellate judges will evaluate Mr. Trump’s claims in the coming weeks — the case against the president-elect is running out of time.
Once Mr Trump is sworn in on January 20, proceedings could be halted, potentially making any additional decisions controversial. Under long-standing Justice Department policy, sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution, and although the New York case was brought in state court, not federal, it would likely follow that precedent.
A spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Mr. Trump, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mr. Trump announced that his legal team was moving “to stop the unlawful conviction in the Manhattan DA’s witch hunt.” The spokesman, Steven Cheung, said that: “The Supreme Court’s landmark decision on immunity, the New York State Constitution, and other established legal precedent dictate that this meritless fraud be immediately dismissed.”