Separate Courts Rule For and Against Trump in One Day
WASHINGTON — Legal challenges for President-elect Donald Trump continued Tuesday with a Florida court in one case agreeing to block a Justice Department report that could embarrass him but a New York court in a separate case overriding his objections to say he must face criminal sentencing Friday.
Most of the Justice Department report is expected to describe how Trump tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election that gave the victory to President Joe Biden. It also touches on allegations he mishandled classified documents for his personal use.
In New York, a state appeals judge said Trump’s attorneys failed to justify why his sentencing on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records should be delayed to their requested date of Jan. 27.
Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as president on Jan. 20. He would become the first convicted felon in American history to hold the presidency.
A jury found him guilty after he allegedly paid hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep their sexual affair secret.
The affair was not the issue in the criminal charges. It was the falsification of financial records to cover it up as Trump headed into the 2016 presidential election.
Trump’s attorneys argued in an emergency appeal that the plans for sentencing on Friday “are causing ongoing, irreparable harm by depriving President Trump of his constitutional rights.”
The constitutional rights invoked by Trump’s attorneys are presidential immunity from prosecution and a right to a hearing during an appeal of the conviction.
Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer disagreed in a brief order that did not explain her reasoning.
“After consideration of the papers submitted and the extensive oral argument, movant’s application for an interim stay is denied,” the order said.
After the jury conviction last May, and as Trump faced other criminal charges for election interference and mishandling classified documents, he appealed to the Supreme Court by saying the presidency should give him immunity from prosecution.
He was referring to the executive privilege granted by the constitution’s separation of powers.
Executive privilege is supposed to give the president and his staff immunity from prosecution to help him avoid judicial reprisal while making policy decisions and actions on behalf of the nation.
The Supreme Court ruled July 1 in Trump v. United States that the president was immune for his “official” acts but not “unofficial” acts.
New York Judge Juan Merchan ruled that the hush money payments were not an official act of a president but an unofficial act of his personal life, meaning he was still criminally responsible.
Merchan has given indications Trump would face no criminal penalties during sentencing other than having a record as a convicted felon.
The second case that led to a court decision Tuesday was originally headed to criminal prosecution after Justice Department special prosecutor Jack Smith reported widespread violations of federal laws that forbid interfering with elections.
Smith blamed Trump for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol in which his supporters sought to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.
The special prosecutor also investigated claims Trump secretly took highly classified government documents when he left the White House. The FBI found some of them stacked in boxes in a bathroom at Trump’s Florida home.
Smith prepared two final reports that were set for release by the Justice Department as soon as this week. Trump’s attorneys appealed to a federal judge in Florida to block them from release.
The defense attorneys argued the public disclosures could impede the transition to a new presidency.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon agreed, at least until a final decision can be made on appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Cannon wrote that Smith’s reports should be temporarily withheld by the Justice Department “to prevent irreparable harm arising from the circumstances as described in the current record in this emergency posture, and to permit an orderly and deliberative sequence of events.”
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