Judge rebuffs Trump's push to postpone sentencing in hush money case

President-elect Donald Trump remains on track to be sentenced this week in his hush money case after a judge on Monday denied his request to halt proceedings while he appeals a ruling that upheld the historic verdict.

Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan ordered on Monday sentencing to proceed as scheduled on Friday, a little more than a week before Trump's inauguration.

The judge rejected a push by Trump's lawyers to postpone it indefinitely while they ask a state appeals court to reverse his decision last week that let the conviction stand.

"The Court should vacate the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025, and suspend all further deadlines in the case until President Trump's immunity appeals are fully and finally resolved, which should result in a dismissal of this case, which should have never been brought in the first place," said Trump's legal team in their appeals filing.

"Justice Merchan's erroneous decisions threaten the institution of the Presidency and run squarely against established precedent disallowing any criminal process against a President-Elect, as well as prohibiting the use of evidence of a President’s official acts against him in a criminal proceeding," the filing continued.

The court ruling comes as Trump was certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election on Monday, four years to the day in which he tried to overturn his 2020 election loss and his supporters stormed the US Capitol in a deadly riot.

'No prejudice'

The Manhattan district attorney's office urged the judge to deny any further postponement of Trump's sentencing.

"Defendant will suffer no prejudice from the conclusion of criminal proceedings in the trial court given the Court's intended sentence of an unconditional discharge and defendant's decision to appear for sentencing virtually instead of in person—indeed, entry of judgment is necessary to allow the appeal defendant has repeatedly stated he will pursue," said prosecutors in their filing."

"The current schedule is entirely a function of the defendant's repeated requests to adjourn a sentencing date that was originally set for July 11, 2024; he should not now be heard to complain of harm from delays he caused," prosecutors continued.

Trump was initially set to be sentenced last July, but that court hearing was delayed until after the 2024 presidential election due to the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.

However, Merchan rejected Trump's motion to dismiss the case based on presidential immunity and the legal battle is expected to continue through Friday and possibly beyond as Trump's legal team moves forward with further appeals.