The judge rejects Trump's sentence delay request

A New York a judge on Monday denied the President-elect's request Donald Trump to delay his schedule sentence Friday in New York criminal skinny money case

The decision means Trump will have to get an appeals court to block his conviction if he wants to avoid appearing for the case, 10 days before he is due to be sworn in as president for second non-consecutive term in the White House.

Trump's lawyers earlier on Monday argued to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan that the sentence should be automatically suspended pending their appeal of earlier rulings. short he did in the case.

Merchan rejected that argument.

“This Court has considered the Defendant's arguments in support of his motion and finds that they are largely a repetition of the arguments he raised several times in the past,” Merchan wrote in conclusion.

“Furthermore, this Court finds that the authorities relied upon in the instant motion by the Defendant for the most part, differ factually from genuine record or legally inadmissible,” the judge wrote.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office had earlier urged Merchan to delay Trump's request for his sentence pending an appeal.

The district attorney's office said there is a “strong public interest in the speedy prosecution and conclusion of criminal proceedings — interests that are particularly relevant here in light of the jury's guilty verdict.

Trump was condemned of 34 felony counts of concealing business records in May, related to a 2016 hush money payment to a porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the presidential election that year.

Merchan said last week that he was not likely to sentence Trump to prison in the case, and also suggested that he impose a sentence that does not include probation or a fine.

On the same day, Merchan rejected arguments that he should throw out the case in light of a US Supreme Court ruling that said presidents had dubious immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts while they served in the White House, and because of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.

The prosecutor's motion on Monday said that because Merchan “has already committed to serving the minimum sentence authorized by law, Trump” will not suffer any prejudice from co- closing” the case by being convicted, which would allow him to plead guilty.

In a statement Monday, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said, “Today, President Trump's legal team moved to end the illegal sentencing of the Manhattan DA Witch.

“The Supreme Court's historic decision on immunity, the New York state constitution, and other established legal precedent mandate that this worthless hoax be immediately expunged,” Cheung said.