President-elect Donald Trump asked on Monday that his sentencing on the so-called hush money case be halted while his legal team continues to appeal rulings upholding the verdict against him.
Trump's lawyers said they will request a state appeals court to reverse the decision by judge Juan Merchan, who last week ruled to sentence the incoming president on Friday, just days before he is sworn in.
Merchan hinted on Friday that Trump won't face any jail time, but the development will make him the first president to take office convicted of a felony crime.
Merchan released a written decision saying he will sentence Trump to a conditional discharge, where a case gets dismissed if a defendant avoids rearrest, as explained by The Associated Press.
The judge also rejected Trump's attempt to get the verdict dismissed and the case thrown out on presidential immunity grounds as a result of his return to the White House, saying he found "no legal impediment to sentencing." Trump had also argued that a sentence would disrupt the transition process. However, the team of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sought to avoid this, proposing a series of solutions that included Trump not getting a custodial sentence or delaying it until after he left office in 2029.
Trump, on his end, blasted judge Merchan, accusing him of corruption and saying the Biden administration was involved in the decision. He said the case is an "illegitimate political attack" and "nothing but a Rigged Charade." He also said Merchan's latest order is "knowingly unlawful, goes against our Constitution and, if allowed to stand, would be the end of the Presidency as we know it."
He went on to again deny to falsifying business records and called for Merchan to be disbarred. "There has never been a President who was so evilly and illegally treated as I. Corrupt Democrat judges and prosecutors have gone against a political opponent of a President, ME, at levels of injustice never seen before. Corrupt judges, or judges so blinded by their hatred of me and my political ideology to "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," are making a mockery of the United States Judicial System, and the World is watching in disgust," Trump claimed. He finished his tirade by expressing confidence that the "Appellate Courts will bring JUSTICE TO AMERICA"""
In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts brought against him in connection with payments made to former porn star Stormy Daniels, marking the first time a former U.S. president had been convicted of a crime. If the decision stands, he will be the first president to take office convicted of a felony crime.
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