Trump asks US Supreme Court to halt criminal sentencing

Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to halt his sentencing successful the transgression hush wealth case, which is acceptable for Friday.

The eleventh-hour filing comes aft 2 little courts rejected Trump's efforts to artifact the proceedings.

The president-elect's lawyers person present asked the nation's apical tribunal to see whether helium is entitled to an automatic enactment of his sentencing portion helium appeals against his conviction.

Allowing the sentencing to proceed would origin "grave injustice and harm to the instauration of the presidency", his lawyers wrote.

They reason that the lawsuit should not proceed arsenic scheduled until questions astir statesmanlike immunity are resolved.

Trump's lawyers asked the judges to see "whether a sitting president's implicit immunity from transgression prosecution during his word successful bureau extends to the president-elect of the United States".

Last year, the Supreme Court issued a sweeping determination granting US presidents immunity from transgression prosecution implicit authoritative acts conducted portion successful office.

Trump's lawyers person argued to a Manhattan justice and higher courts that the immunity protections should use successful his New York transgression lawsuit arsenic well. They person besides argued that the lawsuit should beryllium enactment connected clasp owed to his imminent instrumentality to the White House.

On Wednesday, soon aft the filing, the Supreme Court gave Manhattan prosecutors until Thursday greeting to respond to Trump's request.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said successful a little statement: "We volition respond successful tribunal papers."

A assemblage unanimously recovered Trump blameworthy of 34 felony counts of falsifying concern records successful May aft a melodramatic six-week trial.

The condemnation stemmed from Trump's effort to disguise a reimbursement for a $130,000 hush-money outgo made to an big movie star, who said she had a past intersexual brushwood with Trump.

Manhattan prosecutors argued that the strategy was tantamount to predetermination interference, due to the fact that the outgo occurred conscionable days earlier the 2016 predetermination and kept a perchance damaging communicative from voters.

Trump denies the brushwood and immoderate wrongdoing.

He was primitively acceptable to beryllium sentenced successful July, but Justice Merchan granted a hold arsenic the statesmanlike predetermination played out. Subsequent sentencing dates successful September and November were besides moved.

Trump's lawyers person besides unsuccessfully sought to person the condemnation thrown retired entirely.

Justice Juan Merchan indicated successful a caller ruling that helium volition not see a jailhouse word for Trump, but alternatively lower-level punishments.

As good arsenic Wednesday's exigency Supreme Court petition, Trump's lawyers are besides trying to halt the merchandise of a last study from US Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith.

He led 2 national prosecutions against Trump connected charges helium interfered successful the 2020 predetermination and allegations helium mishandled classified documents aft leaving office.

Both cases are present defunct due to the fact that justness section argumentation prevents prosecutions of a sitting president, but Smith has submitted a last study to the US lawyer general.

Two of Trump's co-defendants successful the classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, person appealed to halt the justness section from making that study public.

On Tuesday, US District Judge Aileen Cannon temporarily granted their petition and blocked the release. They person besides launched a parallel entreaty with a higher court.

On Wednesday, the justness section asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to cull Mr Nauta and Mr De Oliveira's bid to artifact the report's release.

In their filing, they stated US Attorney General Merrick Garland planned to merchandise the archetypal portion of the study dealing with the national predetermination interference case.

However, they said Garland would withhold the 2nd portion of the study related to the classified documents probe portion Trump's 2 remaining co-defendants appeal.