An appeals court judge has denied Trump’s attempt to stop his sentencing in the hush money case set for Friday
NEW YORK: So, here’s the scoop. An appeals court judge just shot down Trump’s last-minute effort to pause his sentencing for that hush money case. This all went down on Tuesday, and the judge made it clear that Trump’s request was a no-go.
In a quick one-page decision, Justice Ellen Gesmer simply stated that Trump’s appeal was “denied.” It’s pretty straightforward, right? Trump had been trying to convince the New York appeals court to toss out the jury’s verdict from May, where he was found guilty of 34 felony counts for messing with business documents.
He argued that he should be protected by presidential immunity, but the trial judge wasn’t having it. Trump also wanted to delay the sentencing while he appeals, but Gesmer seemed pretty skeptical about that whole presidential immunity thing, especially when it comes to a president-elect.
She even asked Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, if there was any precedent for that. Spoiler alert: there isn’t. Blanche had to admit that there’s never been a case like this before.
Now, the trial judge, Justice Juan Merchan, has hinted that he won’t send Trump to prison since he’s about to head back to the White House soon. Trump is still pushing for the appeals court to hear his arguments about the verdict on January 27.
