US justice system: Trump wants to prevent sentencing by all means possible

US President-elect Donald Trump wants to do everything in his power to prevent a punishment from being announced against him in the New York hush money trial shortly before his inauguration. His lawyers filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court requesting a stay of the criminal proceedings, according to a court document. Trump had previously failed with a corresponding request at an appeals court.

Race against time

The sentencing is scheduled for this Friday (January 10th) – ten days before the Republican is sworn in again as president. The trial was about the illegal concealment of $130,000 in hush money that Trump had paid to the porn actress Stormy Daniels – according to the court’s conviction, with the aim of gaining advantages in the 2016 election campaign. Jurors in New York found Trump guilty on 34 counts in late May. It was the first time in United States history that a former president was convicted of a crime.

The punishment is unlikely to have a direct impact on Trump’s presidency. On Friday, the judge in charge had already announced a so-called “unconditional discharge”. This form of conviction would not result in any further criminal consequences such as a prison sentence or a fine, but would establish legal guilt – according to the Guilty verdict by jury.

But that also means: Trump’s status as a convicted criminal is formalized and he takes office as such. This has never happened before in US history. It is therefore unsurprising that the Republican is defending himself against the sentencing at all costs.

The urgent application states: “In fact, every conviction of a crime has significant side effects for the defendant, regardless of whether a prison sentence is imposed.” The suspension of the criminal proceedings is necessary to prevent “serious injustice and damage” to the office of the president and the work of the government.

Trump considers the proceedings against him to be illegal anyway. He cites a Supreme Court decision according to which US presidents enjoy extensive immunity for actions taken while in office. However, the New York judge declared in December that the decision did not apply in the present case because the disputed hush money payments were made before Trump’s first presidency from 2017 to 2021. Furthermore, these were acts as a private citizen.