President-elect Donald Trump's legal team has asked the Supreme Court to rule on Judge Juan Merchan's January 10th sentencing in the "hush money" case.
Merchan is intent on sentencing Trump before his inauguration. Some on the left claim that this is a purely political stunt, providing Democrats with the ability to assert that Trump is a convicted felon. Others posit darker scenarios.
The counterpoint from the right is that the case was lawfare, a ginned up attempt to kneecap Trump before the election.
He’s been ordered to slap the “convicted felon” label on Trump so that the MSM can repeat it on Inauguration Day and 24-7 thereafter. It’s all they’ve got. He won so big. They even changed their candidate to win. They want that label. That’s it. Merchan wants the accolades.
— roxyloveslucy (@roxyloveslucy24) January 7, 2025
The July 2024 Supreme Court ruling favored Trump, stating that he has immunity for certain actions related to his office. The news set off a chain reaction: the specter of special prosecutor Jack Smith vanished, and sentencing was delayed in the Merchan case.
As reported by SCOTUS Blog, the highest court "ruled that former presidents can never be prosecuted for actions relating to the core powers of their office, and that there is at least a presumption that they have immunity for their official acts more broadly."
The question now is whether the court will take up the request. On one hand, Merchan's timing could be seen as defying the court's broad support of immunity, and the majority may want to retort. On the other hand, the SCOTUS is generally shy about dramatic legal intervention in politics.
Being called upon to fix a problem in the 11th hour has usually resulted in denial of motion.
President-elect Donald Trump asks the Supreme Court to delay his sentencing in his New York hush money case. Sentencing is set for Friday, Jan. 10.
— SCOTUS Updates Bot (@SCOTUS_Updates) January 8, 2025
Trump came to the Supreme Court for emergency relief this morning.
This story is unfolding, we will report further as it develops.
