US President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to call off Friday's sentencing in his hush money case in New York.
Trump's lawyers turned to the nation's highest court on Wednesday (early Thursday AEDT) after New York courts refused to postpone the sentencing by Judge Juan M Merchan, who presided over Trump's trial and conviction last May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
Prosecutors were expected to file a response by Thursday morning (early Friday AEDT).
READ MORE: 1000 buildings destroyed as LA fires turn deadly
Trump's team sought an immediate stay of the scheduled sentencing, saying it would wrongly restrict him as he prepares to take office. While Merchan has indicated he will not impose jail time, fines or probation, Trump's lawyers argued a felony conviction would still have intolerable side effects.
The sentencing should be delayed as he appeals the conviction to "prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government," they argued.
The emergency motion is from lawyers John Sauer, Trump's pick for solicitor general, who represents the government before the high court, and Todd Blanche, in line to be the second-ranking official at the Justice Department.
They also pointed to the Supreme Court ruling giving Trump and other presidents broad immunity from prosecutions over their actions in office, saying it supports their argument that his New York conviction should be overturned.
Their filing said the New York trial court "lacks authority to impose sentence and judgment on President Trump — or conduct any further criminal proceedings against him— until the resolution of his underlying appeal raising substantial claims of Presidential immunity, including by review in this Court if necessary".
The Republican president-elect's spokesman, Steven Cheung, said in a statement that the case was politically motivated and should be dismissed.
READ MORE: Incredible moment student found after 13 horror days
READ MORE: Six kids arrested after being stopped by members of the public
Trump's lawyers said Trump was also asking New York's highest court for an emergency stay, but that court had not received a filing as of noon on Wednesday (2am Thursday AEDT).
The Manhattan district attorney's office, meanwhile, said it will respond in court papers. The emergency motion was submitted to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who hears appeals from New York.
Trump's convictions arose from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a $US130,000 ($209,500) hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. He denies it.
The Supreme Court's immunity opinion came in a separate election interference case against him, but Trump's lawyers say it means some of the evidence used against him in his hush money trial should have been shielded by presidential immunity. That includes testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made while he was in office.
Merchan has disagreed, finding they would qualify as personal business. The Supreme Court's immunity decision was largely about official acts of presidents while in office.
DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
from 9News https://ift.tt/MdYJgTZ
