Merchan rejected Trump’s attempt to dismiss the case.
President-Elect Donald Trump is attempting to halt proceedings in his business records case, with his attorneys stating that they intend to file an appeal to reverse a decision setting sentencing for Jan. 10.
His request came on Jan. 6, just days after Merchan’s decision on Jan. 3.
Merchan said in his order that he wasn’t inclined to impose a prison term on the president-elect. Citing concerns about presidential immunity, he also said that “a sentence of unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality and allow the Defendant to pursue his appellate options.”
Merchan rejected the idea that the Presidential Transition Act, the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, or presidential immunity—each of which had been cited by Trump’s legal team—required vacating the jury’s verdicts or dismissal of the indictment.
Trump’s lawyers argued that their appeal should trigger what’s known as an automatic stay, or pause, in the proceedings. If that doesn’t happen, they argued, Merchan should then grant a pause and prevent sentencing from happening on Friday as scheduled.
“Today, President Trump’s legal team moved to stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt,” Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung,