Trump appeals to Supreme Court to block sentencing in hush money case

US President-elect Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to block a New York state court from sentencing him on Friday for his criminal conviction relating to hush money paid to a porn star.

Trump's legal team turned to the nation's highest court on Wednesday after New York courts denied their request to delay the sentencing by Justice Juan Merchan, who oversaw Trump’s trial and conviction last May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

The Supreme Court has asked New York prosecutors to respond to Trump’s request by Thursday.

Trump's attorneys have sought an immediate stay of the scheduled sentencing as he appeals the conviction, citing the need “to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government".

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, called for the case to be dismissed in a statement, while the Manhattan district attorney’s office stated it would respond in court filings.

Justice Merchan has previously indicated he will not impose prison time, fines, or probation as part of the sentencing.

Trump’s legal team has argued that the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling, which granted him broad immunity from criminal prosecution in a separate election interference case, supports their argument that his New York conviction should be overturned.

They contend that some of the evidence used in the hush money trial should have been protected under presidential immunity. However, Merchan has rejected this argument.

Wednesday’s filing was signed by John Sauer, Trump’s nominee for solicitor general, who also represented him in the election interference case before the Supreme Court.

Trump's convictions arose from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a $130,000 (€126,000) hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.

Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump denies this.

In a separate development on Wednesday, the US Justice Department said it will release special counsel Jack Smith’s findings on Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election but will keep the rest of the report under wraps for now.