Donald Trump is slated to face sentencing for his felony convictions in a New York court on Friday of this week, and he’s handling the situation as terribly as we expected.
The former president turned president-elect spent his entire weekend in a rage-fueled temper tantrum on his own social media network as his sentencing date closed in, going so far as to openly claim that District Attorney Alvin Bragg didn’t even want to bring the dozens of felony charges against him, but was “forced” to do so by the “Biden/Harris” Department of Justice.
“But it was even more so what the CORRUPT and TOTALLY CONFLICTED POLITICAL HACK Judge did, and is doing, on this sham trial. I even have, STILL, an Unconstitutional Gag Order where I am not allowed to speak about the Judge’s highly disqualifying Conflicts of Interest. Virtually ever legal scholar and pundit says THERE IS NO (ZERO!) CASE AGAINST ME. The Judge fabricated the facts, and the law, no different than the other New York Judicial and Prosecutorial Witch Hunts,” Trump raged in his late-night, weekend meltdown.
“That’s why businesses are fleeing New York, taking with them millions of jobs, and BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TAXES. The legal system is broken, and businesses can’t take a chance in getting caught up in this quicksand. IT’S ALL RIGGED, in this case against a political opponent, ME!!!”
Following his social media tantrum over the weekend, the president-elect’s legal team is trying to take matters into their own hands with a desperate attempt to delay that sentencing that’s scheduled to take place before Donald takes office later this month.
This morning’s filing from the Trump legal team begins with an assertion that Judge Juan Merchan ignored the former president’s assertion of his absolute immunity on December 16th, following the disturbing judgment from the US Supreme Court.
However, that absolute immunity determination does not apply to Trump’s infamous Hush Money crimes in Manhattan, as those felonies were committed in 2017, well before he was actively serving as the President of the United States.
The Trump legal team went on to argue that all of the proceedings against the former president should be stayed.
“Due to the fact that further criminal proceedings are automatically stayed by operation of federal constitutional law, the Court will lack authority to proceed with sentencing and must, therefore, immediately vacate the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025,” the filing continues.
There are no laws in the US that stay criminal proceedings. One Office of Legal Counsel opinion does state that a sitting US president should not face trial while in office.
Donald J. Trump will not be President of the United States on January 10th, when his sentencing is scheduled.
In fact, when Judge Merchan announced the sentencing date, he made it very clear that it was Trump and his legal team’s incessant delays that altered the timeline of the proceedings and prevented them from unfolding on a more customary timeline.
Merchan has already confirmed that Donald Trump will NOT be sentenced to jail time at his January 10th sentencing and has stated that the president-elect may appear in court virtually if he wishes.
You can read the full filing from the Trump legal team here.
Featured image via The Resistance Report Gallery