Appeals Court Judge Refuses to Halt Trump’s Sentencing in Hush-Money Case

Last updated: January 7, 2025 10:20 pm

3 Min Read

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President-elect Donald J. Trump is trying to expunge his conviction before he is inaugurated. He would be the first felon elected to the Oval Office.

After being indicted four times in four jurisdictions, Donald Trump leaned heavily on a strategy of delay, making a variety of appeals and other filings to run out the clock until Election Day. Credit… Dave Sanders for The New York Times A New York appellate court on Tuesday declined to halt President-elect Donald J. Trump’s criminal sentencing, damping his hopes of shutting down the case before returning to the White House.

Mr. Trump, who is scheduled to face sentencing on Friday, 10 days before being sworn in for a second presidential term, had asked the state appeals court to intervene and freeze the proceeding. His lawyers, who are now likely to file a last-minute appeal in federal court, had argued that Mr. Trump was entitled to full immunity from prosecution, and even sentencing, now that he was the president-elect.

The emergency application went to a single appellate court judge, Ellen Gesmer, who held a brief hearing on Tuesday before denying Mr. Trump’s request 30 minutes later.

At the hearing, Justice Gesmer appeared highly skeptical of Mr. Trump’s arguments, grilling his lawyer about whether he had “any support for a notion that presidential immunity extends to president-elects?”

The lawyer, Todd Blanche, conceded that he did not, saying: “There has never been a case like this before.”

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Todd Blanche, Mr. Trump’s lawyer in the appeal, is expected to take a top position in the Justice Department. Credit… Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

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