Trump’s lawyers say the case should be put on hold automatically while they ask a New York appeals court to reverse Judge JUan M. Merchan's decision last week, which set the case for sentencing on Friday — little more than a week before his inauguration.
If sentencing proceeds as scheduled, Trump’s lawyers argued, he will be appealing the verdict while in office and will be “forced to deal with criminal proceedings for years to come." They raised an improbable scenario in which, if Trump wins his appeal, he could be then subjected to another criminal trial while in office.
Merchan rejected Trump’s bid to throw out the verdict in light of his impending return to the White House but signaled that he is not likely to sentence the Republican to any punishment for his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that it “would be the end of the Presidency as we know it” if the ruling is allowed to stand.
Trump’s lawyers, who are also challenging Merchan’s prior refusal to dismiss the case on presidential immunity grounds, say their appeal should trigger an automatic stay, or pause, in proceedings. If that doesn't happen, they said, Merchan should step in and halt Friday’s sentencing.
They asking the judge to inform them by Monday afternoon of his decision “to allow sufficient time for President Trump to seek an emergency appellate review.”
“Today, President Trump’s legal team moved to stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said. “The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the state constitution of New York, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed.”
