[Donald Trump is appealing two rulings from Judge Juan Merchan that dismissed his attempts to toss his conviction in the hush money case. The president-elect is also seeking a stay of his scheduled sentencing on Friday. Trump’s lawyers argue that the sentencing must be put on hold while his appeals play out, and have asked for a response from Merchan by 2 p.m. ET Monday.
Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records over payments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to reimburse a $130,000 hush money payment made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, in order to keep her from speaking out about an alleged affair before the 2016 election. Trump has denied the affair.
Trump’s appeal comes on the same day he will be certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election, and four years since he tried to overturn his election loss and his supporters rioted at the US Capitol. On Friday, Merchan rejected Trump’s attempt to throw out his conviction because he’s been elected president, scheduling Trump’s sentencing in the hush money case for Friday.
Merchan made clear he would not sentence Trump to any jail time. Trump’s filing states, “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.”
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