Judge Juan Merchan rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s motion to delay sentencing in the New York criminal case where he was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Merchan wrote on Monday, “Defendant’s motion for a stay of these proceedings, including the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025, is hereby DENIED.”
‘Trump’s legal team moved to stop the unlawful sentencing.’
The judge announced the date late last week, stating that sentencing Trump after completing his second term would be “less desirable than imposing sentence prior to January 20, 2025.”
Trump was initially slated to face sentencing in July, but the date was repeatedly delayed due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity and Trump’s November election win.
On Monday, Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, filed a motion to delay the sentencing date, arguing that they planned to appeal Merchan’s decision to reject their request to dismiss the case.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office asked Merchan to reject Trump’s request to delay sentencing.
Merchan wrote in his rejection, “This Court has considered Defendant’s arguments in support of his motion and finds that they are for the most part, a repetition of the arguments he has raised numerous times in the past.”
The judge indicated that Trump would not face jail time and would instead receive an “unconditional discharge” sentence.
Incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox Digital, “Today, President Trump’s legal team moved to stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s witch hunt. 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.”
“The American People elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate that demands an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and all of the remaining witch hunts. We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again,” Cheung added.
Trump addressed the New York case in a post on social media over the weekend.
“Ultimately, the Biden/Harris DOJ forced Bragg to concoct anything to embarrass TRUMP. But it was even more so what the CORRUPT and TOTALLY CONFLICTED POLITICAL HACK Judge did, and is doing, on this sham trial. I even have, STILL, an Unconstitutional Gag Order where I am not allowed to speak about the Judge’s highly disqualifying Conflicts of Interest,” Trump wrote.
“Virtually [every] legal scholar and pundit says THERE IS NO (ZERO!) CASE AGAINST ME,” he continued. “The Judge fabricated the facts, and the law, no different than the other New York Judicial and Prosecutorial Witch Hunts. That’s why businesses are fleeing New York, taking with them millions of jobs, and BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TAXES. The legal system is broken, and businesses can’t take a chance in getting caught up in this quicksand. IT’S ALL RIGGED, in this case against a political opponent, ME!!!”
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