Judge Juan Merchan denied a request Monday to delay sentencing of President-elect Donald Trump in his New York hush money case.
Attorneys representing Trump had asked for a delay this week as they seek to overturn a ruling upholding the verdict.
The sentencing will go on as originally scheduled this Friday.
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Trump was convicted last May of 34 counts of falsifying business records, including what prosecutors described as a scheme to cover up a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. But after Trump's 2024 presidential election win, Judge Juan M. Merchan indefinitely postponed sentencing as prosecutors weighed in on the future of the case.
Then in a major turn of events, Judge Merchan last week scheduled for Trump to be sentenced Friday, but indicated that he would not face jail time. Nevertheless, the decision set up Trump — who is set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 — to become the first U.S. president to take office after being convicted of felony crimes.
Trump's legal team has continued to argue that the case and verdict should be thrown out on the grounds of presidential immunity. Merchan, however, has said he found "no legal impediment to sentencing" Trump.
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"I never falsified business records," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth social over the weekend, criticizing the case against him. "It is a fake, made up charge by a corrupt judge who is just doing the work of the Biden/Harris Injustice Department, an attack on their political opponent, ME!"
"Every legal scholar of note said there IS NO CASE AGAINST ME," Trump continued. "The judge should be disbarred!"
