President-elect Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to prevent a New York state court from sentencing him for his conviction on criminal charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.
“This court should enter an immediate stay of further proceedings in the New York trial court to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency and the operations of the federal government,” his lawyers wrote in a filing made public on Wednesday.
A day ago, a New York appeals court denied his effort to halt sentencing scheduled for Friday in New York state court in Manhattan. In Wednesday’s filing, his lawyers asked the US Supreme Court to immediately order a stay in the case, as he seeks an appeal to resolve questions of presidential immunity.
They said they had simultaneously asked the state’s highest court for the same emergency relief.
The Supreme Court ordered prosecutors to respond to the request by Thursday morning, signalling that the justices may act quickly on the matter.
Trump, who won another term in the White House and is set to take office on January 20, was convicted by a New York jury of covering up his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says they had.
Trump has denied the encounter and any wrongdoing.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, said in a statement his legal team had asked the Supreme Court “to correct the unjust actions by New York courts and stop the unlawful sentencing”.
