The U.S. Supreme Court has denied President-elect Trump’s petition to block his Friday sentencing in the dubious “hush money” case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s three liberal Justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, in denying the motion.
President-elect Trump filed an emergency petition to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday in an effort to prevent his January 10 sentencing, which was scheduled by Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan less than a month before inauguration day.
“The application for stay presented to Justice Sotomayor and by her referred to the Court is denied for, inter alia, the following reasons. First, the alleged evidentiary violations at President-Elect Trump’s state-court trial can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal,” the order states.
“Second, the burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of unconditional discharge’ after a brief virtual hearing,” the court ruled.
The order further noted that “Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, Justice Gorsuch, and Justice Kavanaugh would grant the application.” Trump needed five votes to secure a delay, suggesting