Former US President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom during a secret money trial in Manhattan Criminal Court on April 26, 2024 in New York.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Plenipotentiaries of the President-elect Donald Trump tried to block his planned sentencing this week in New York criminal silence the money – according to a new court motion.
Trump's lawyers, in a filing made public Monday, told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan that they would appeal his ruling denying their efforts to dismiss the criminal case.
The motion argues that the appeal should automatically stay the verdict, which is scheduled for Friday, and that if Merchan does not agree, he should nonetheless grant Trump an immediate stay of proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal. This appeal may take months to process.
Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records in May in connection with a hush money payment to a porn star in 2016. Stormy Daniels shortly before this year's presidential elections.
Last week, Merchan said he was not willing to sentence Trump to prison in the case and also suggested he would impose a sentence that did not include probation or a fine.
On the same day, Merchan rejected arguments that he should dismiss the case in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that said presidents have presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions while serving in the White House, and because of the Constitution's Supremacy Clause .
In a statement Monday, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said: “Today, President Trump's legal team took action to end the wrongful verdict in the Manhattan District Attorney's witch hunt.”
“The Supreme Court's historic immunity decision, the New York State Constitution, and other established legal precedent mandate the immediate rejection of this baseless fraud,” Cheung said.
Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as president for a second non-consecutive term in the White House on January 20.