Trump asks US Supreme Court to halt criminal sentencing

Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to halt his sentencing in the criminal hush money case, which is set for Friday.

The eleventh-hour filing comes after two lower courts rejected Trump's efforts to block the proceedings.

The president-elect's lawyers have now asked the nation's top court to consider whether he is entitled to an automatic stay of his sentencing while he appeals against his conviction.

Allowing the sentencing to proceed would cause "grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency", his lawyers wrote.

They argue that the case should not proceed as scheduled until questions around presidential immunity are resolved.

Trump's lawyers asked the judges to consider "whether a sitting president's complete immunity from criminal prosecution during his term in office extends to the president-elect of the United States".

Last year, the Supreme Court issued a sweeping decision granting US presidents immunity from criminal prosecution over official acts conducted while in office.

Trump's lawyers have argued to a Manhattan judge and higher courts that the immunity protections should apply in his New York criminal case as well. They have also argued that the case should be put on hold due to his imminent return to the White House.

On Wednesday, shortly after the filing, the Supreme Court gave Manhattan prosecutors until Thursday morning to respond to Trump's request.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a brief statement: "We will respond in court papers."

Later Wednesday, Trump's lawyers also filed a request with the state to stay the sentencing.

A jury unanimously found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May after a dramatic six-week trial.

The conviction stemmed from Trump's attempt to disguise a reimbursement for a $130,000 hush-money payment made to an adult film star, who said she had a past sexual encounter with Trump.

Manhattan prosecutors argued that the scheme was tantamount to election interference, because the payment occurred just days before the 2016 election and kept a potentially damaging story from voters.

Trump denies the encounter and any wrongdoing.

He was originally set to be sentenced in July, but Justice Merchan granted a delay as the presidential election played out. Subsequent sentencing dates in September and November were also moved.

Trump's lawyers have also unsuccessfully sought to have the conviction thrown out entirely.

Justice Juan Merchan indicated in a recent ruling that he will not consider a jail term for Trump, but rather lower-level punishments.

As well as Wednesday's emergency Supreme Court petition, Trump's lawyers are also trying to stop the release of a final report from US Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith.

He led two federal prosecutions against Trump on charges he interfered in the 2020 election and allegations he mishandled classified documents after leaving office.

Both cases are now defunct because justice department policy prevents prosecutions of a sitting president, but Smith has submitted a final report to the US attorney general.

Two of Trump's co-defendants in the classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, have appealed to stop the justice department from making that report public.

On Tuesday, US District Judge Aileen Cannon temporarily granted their request and blocked the release. They have also launched a parallel appeal with a higher court.

On Wednesday, the justice department asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reject Mr Nauta and Mr De Oliveira's bid to block the report's release.

In their filing, they stated US Attorney General Merrick Garland planned to release the first part of the report dealing with the federal election interference case.

However, they said Garland would withhold the second part of the report related to the classified documents investigation while Trump's two remaining co-defendants appeal.