By Steve Neavling
A sharply divided Supreme Court has turned down President-elect Donald Trump’s last-minute plea to block his sentencing on criminal charges in the Manhattan hush money case.
By a narrow 5-4 vote, the court’s decision leaves Trump to face an uncomfortable legal reckoning just days before his second-term inauguration.
This decision paves the way for Friday’s sentencing hearing, which will officially conclude Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, Politico reports. The charges stem from allegations he covered up a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, a case that has dogged him for years.
The former president is now poised to become the first person in U.S. history to assume the presidency as a convicted felon. In a move that surprised many, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, both appointed by Republicans, sided with the court’s three Democratic justices in rejecting Trump’s emergency request.
Meanwhile, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented, underscoring the ideological divide on the nation’s highest court. The dissenters offered no written explanation for their decision to support Trump’s position.
Trump’s legal team argued that sentencing during the presidential transition would hinder his ability to carry out crucial duties and could jeopardize national security. However, the court dismissed these concerns in a concise one-page order, asserting that the impact of sentencing on Trump’s responsibilities would be minimal.
“The burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial,” the court said in its order. It also noted that the presiding judge plans to conduct a brief virtual hearing and has no intention of imposing penalties at that time.
Despite the dramatic stakes, the court’s ruling did not delve deeply into broader constitutional issues. Instead, it emphasized that Trump’s claims of trial errors and legal missteps “can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal.”
Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision, Trump took to social media, vowing to fight the conviction. “For the sake and sanctity of the Presidency, I will be appealing this case, and am confident that JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL,” he declared to his followers.
Appearing at Mar-a-Lago soon after, the president-elect struck a calm and measured tone.
“I read it, and I thought it was a fair decision, actually,” Trump told reporters. However, he dismissed the upcoming sentencing as a politically motivated spectacle engineered by his adversaries.
