On 5-4 vote, Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid to delay sentencing in hush money case

WASHINGTON — A sharply divided Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s final bid to put his New York hush-money case on hold, clearing the way for him to be sentenced for felony crimes days before he returns to the presidency.

The court’s 5-4 order clears the way for Judge Juan M. Merchan to impose a sentence Friday on Trump, who was convicted in what prosecutors called an attempt to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied any liaison with Daniels or any wrongdoing.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined with the court’s three liberals in rejecting his emergency motion.

The majority found his sentencing wouldn’t be an insurmountable burden during the presidential transition since Merchan has indicated he won’t give Trump jail time, fines or probation.

Trump’s attorneys had asked the sentencing be delayed as he appeals the verdict, but the majority of justices found his arguments can be handled as part of the regular appeals process.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would have delayed the sentencing, the order states.

Trump says he respects order

Trump said he respects the court’s order and plans to push his appeal of a verdict. “I respect the court’s opinion — I think it was actually a very good opinion for us because you saw what they said, but they invited the appeal and the appeal is on the bigger issue. So, we’ll see how it works out,” he said.

The conservative-majority court has handed Trump other major victories over the past year, ensuring that states could not kick him off the ballot because of the 2021 attack on the Capitol and giving him immunity from prosecution over some acts he took as president in a ruling that delayed an election-interference case against him.

The justices could also be faced with weighing other parts of the sweeping conservative changes he’s promised after he takes office.

In the New York case, Trump’s attorneys have argued that evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.

At the least, they have said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Trump during the White House transition.

Prosecutors pushed back, saying there’s no reason for the court to take the “extraordinary step” of intervening in a state case now. Trump’s attorneys haven’t shown that an hourlong virtual hearing would be a serious disruption, and a pause would likely mean pushing the case past the Jan. 20 inauguration, creating a yearslong delay in sentencing if it happens at all.

Trump’s attorneys went to the justices after New York courts refused to postpone sentencing, including the state’s highest court on Thursday.

Lawyers: Case politically motivated

Judges in New York have found that the convictions on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to personal matters rather than Trump’s official acts as president. Daniels says she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. He denies it.

Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and they said sentencing him now would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.

Trump is represented by D. John Sauer, his pick to be the solicitor general, who represents the government before the high court.

Sauer also argued for Trump in the separate criminal case charging him with trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which resulted in the Supreme Court’s immunity opinion.

Defense attorneys cited that opinion in arguing some of the evidence used against him in the hush money trial should have been shielded by presidential immunity. That includes testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made while he was in office.

The decision comes a day after Justice Alito confirmed that he took a phone call from Trump the day before the president-elect’s lawyers filed their emergency motion before the high court. The justice said the call was about a clerk, not any upcoming or current cases, but the unusual communication prompted calls for Alito to recuse himself, including from the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

Sisak reported from New York, Hill from Albany, New York. Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.