Appeals Court Rejects Donald Trump’s Effort To Postpone Sentencing

A New York appeals court rejected Donald Trump‘s effort to at least postpone his sentencing on Friday for his criminal conviction related to hush money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels.

Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer of the state Appellate Division wrote, “After consideration of the papers submitted and the extensive oral argument, movant’s application for an interim stay is denied.” She had held a hearing earlier in the day to hear argument’s from prosecutors and Trump’s team.

The judge who presided over Trump’s criminal trial, Juan Merchan, scheduled his sentencing for Friday. In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He has denied the claims, and has sought to sideline the sentencing as he pursues an appeal of the case.

Merchan has indicated that Trump would not get a sentence that involves incarceration, but rejected his legal team’s arguments that the president-elect was protected by presidential immunity.

Merchan has delayed the sentencing, originally scheduled for July, several times, and had pushed it until after the election so as to not interfere with the electoral process. At a press conference today, Trump again railed against the judge.