(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump has asked a federal appeals court for a stay that would delay the sentencing in his New York hush-money case, which is scheduled for Sept. 18.
The longshot attempt to delay the sentencing comes one day after District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied Trump’s bid to move his criminal case to federal court.
In a 28-page filing late Wednesday, Trump’s attorneys asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to stay Judge Hellerstein’s order — a move that would delay Trump’s criminal case, including his sentencing, from moving forward.
“Absent the requested stay, President Trump and the American people will suffer irreparable harm,” defense attorneys Emil Bove and Todd Blanche wrote.
Trump’s lawyers claimed in the appeal that the former president’s case belongs in federal court because the allegations and evidence in the case relate to Trump’s official acts as president — an argument defense attorneys said was bolstered by the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.
In their filing, defense attorneys emphasized the “irreparable harm” of allowing the sentencing to proceed because it could result in Trump’s “unconstitutional incarceration while the 2024 Presidential election is imminent.”
“Unlawfully incarcerating President Trump in the final weeks of the Presidential election, while early voting is ongoing, would irreparably harm the First Amendment rights of President Trump and voters located far beyond New York County,” defense attorneys wrote.
Trump made a similar argument unsuccessfully to Hellerstein, and legal experts generally agree that Trump will not have to serve whatever sentence he receives until after the election.
Later this week, a panel of judges on the same federal appeals court is set to consider Trump’s appeal of a 2023 civil judgment holding him liable for sexual abuse of columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarding her $5 million in damages.
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