Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid to delay sentencing in his New York hush money case

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Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid to delay sentencing in his New York hush money case

2025-01-10 09:05 Last Updated At：09:12

WASHINGTON (AP) — A sharply divided Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s final bid to put his New York hush-money case on hold, clearing the way for him to be sentenced for felony crimes days before he returns to the presidency.

The court’s 5-4 order clears the way for Judge Juan M. Merchan to impose a sentence Friday on Trump, who was convicted in what prosecutors called an attempt to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied any liaison with Daniels or any wrongdoing.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined with the court’s three liberals in rejecting his emergency motion.

The majority found his sentencing wouldn't be an insurmountable burden during the presidential transition since Merchan has indicated he won't give Trump jail time, fines or probation.

Trump's attorneys had asked the sentencing be delayed as he appeals the verdict, but the majority of justices found his arguments can be handled as part of the regular appeals process.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would have delayed the sentencing, the order states.

The high court's conservative majority has handed Trump other major victories over the past year, ensuring that states could not kick him off the ballot because of the 2021 attack on the Capitol and giving him immunity from prosecution over some acts he took as president in a ruling that delayed an election-interference case against him.

The justices could also be faced with weighing other parts of the sweeping conservative changes he's promised after he takes office.

In the New York case, Trump’s attorneys have argued that evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.

At the least, they have said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Trump during the White House transition.

Prosecutors pushed back, saying there’s no reason for the court to take the “extraordinary step” of intervening in a state case now. Trump’s attorneys haven’t shown that an hourlong virtual hearing would be a serious disruption, and a pause would likely mean pushing the case past the Jan. 20 inauguration, creating a yearslong delay in sentencing if it happens at all.

Trump’s attorneys went to the justices after New York courts refused to postpone sentencing, including the state’s highest court on Thursday.

Judges in New York have found that the convictions on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to personal matters rather than Trump’s official acts as president. Daniels says she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. He denies it.

Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and they said sentencing him now would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.

Trump is represented by D. John Sauer, his pick to be the solicitor general, who represents the government before the high court.

Sauer also argued for Trump in the separate criminal case charging him with trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which resulted in the Supreme Court’s immunity opinion.

Defense attorneys cited that opinion in arguing some of the evidence used against him in the hush money trial should have been shielded by presidential immunity. That includes testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made while he was in office.

The decision comes a day after Justice Alito confirmed that he took a phone call from Trump the day before the president-elect’s lawyers filed their emergency motion before the high court. The justice said the call was about a clerk, not any upcoming or current cases, but the unusual communication prompted calls for Alito to recuse himself, including from the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

Sisak reported from New York, Hill from Albany, New York. Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.

Venezuela's opposition leader defies Maduro to lead protests that end in confusing arrest claims

2025-01-10 09:06 Last Updated At：09:12

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado's aides said she was detained on Thursday, followed moments later by official denials of her arrest, in a confusing episode that capped a day of protests seeking to block President Nicolás Maduro from clinging to power.

It remained unclear what exactly happened after Machado bid farewell to hundreds of supporters, hopped on a motorcycle and raced with her security convoy down a main Caracas avenue.

At 3:21 p.m. local time, Machado’s press team said in a social media post that security forces “violently intercepted” her convoy. Her aides later told The Associated Press that she had been detained, and international condemnation poured in from leaders in Latin America and beyond, demanding her release.

But about an hour later, a proof-of-life, 20-second video of Machado emerged online in which she says she was followed after leaving the “wonderful” rally and had dropped her purse. Her aides later claimed in a social media post that the video message had been coerced, and that after recording it, she was freed. They said she would provide details of her “kidnapping” later.

Late Thursday, Machado in a post on X said she was “in a safe place and with more determination than ever” to continue her effort to get Maduro out of office. She also said that a person was shot "when the repressive forces of the regime arrested me.”

Machado told supporters she will explain the day's events in more detail on Friday.

Meanwhile, Maduro's supporters denied Machado had been detained, claiming that government opponents were trying to spread fake news to generate an international crisis.

“Nobody should be surprised,” Communications Minister Freddy Nanez said. “Especially since it's coming from the fascists, who were the architects of the dirty trick.”

Earlier Thursday, Machado addressed hundreds of supporters who heeded her call to take to the streets a day before the ruling party-controlled National Assembly was scheduled to swear in Maduro to a third six-year term despite credible evidence that he lost the presidential election.

“They wanted us to fight each other, but Venezuela is united, we are not afraid,” Machado shouted from atop a truck in the capital minutes before she was reported detained.

Machado, 57, is a hard-liner and former lawmaker who stayed and fought against Maduro even after many of her allies among opposition leaders went into exile in the face of repression, joining an exodus of more than 7.7 million Venezuelans who’ve abandoned their homeland since 2013.

Loyalists who control the country's judiciary banned her from running against Maduro last year. In a deft move, she backed an unknown outsider — retired diplomat Edmundo González — who crushed Maduro by a more than two-to-one margin, according to voting machine records collected by the opposition and validated by international observers.

González, invoking the title of president-elect recognized by the United States and other countries, demanded her immediate release.

“To the security forces, I warn you: don't play with fire,” he said in a social media post from the Dominican Republic, where he met with President Luis Abinader and a delegation of former presidents from across Latin America.

President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on Machado and Gonzalez's efforts. “These freedom fighters should not be harmed, and MUST stay SAFE and ALIVE!” Trump said on Truth Social.

There was a relatively small turnout for Thursday's protests as riot police were deployed in force. Venezuelans who have witnessed Maduro’s security forces round up scores of opponents and regular bystanders since the July election were reluctant to turn out in large numbers as they have in the past.

“Of course, there’s fewer people,” empanada vendor Miguel Contreras said as National Guard soldiers carrying riot shields buzzed by on motorcycles. “There’s fear.”

Demonstrators blocked a main avenue in one opposition stronghold. Many were senior citizens and dressed in red, yellow and blue, answering Machado’s call to wear the colors of the Venezuelan flag. All condemned Maduro and said they would recognize González as Venezuela’s legitimate president.

The deployment of security forces as well as pro-government armed groups known as “colectivos” to intimidate opponents betrays a deep insecurity on the part of Maduro, said Javier Corrales, a Latin America expert at Amherst College.

Since the elections, the government has arrested more than 2,000 people — including as many as 10 Americans and other foreigners — who it claims have been plotting to oust Maduro and sow chaos in the oil rich South American nation. This week alone, masked gunmen arrested a former presidential candidate, a prominent free speech activist and even González’s son-in-law as he was taking his young children to school.

“It’s an impressive show of force but it’s also a sign of weakness,” said Corrales, who co-authored this month an article, “How Maduro Stole Venezuela’s Vote,” in the Journal of Democracy.

“Maduro is safe in office,” said Corrales, “but he and his allies recognize they are moving forward with a big lie and have no other way to justify what they are doing except by relying on the military.”

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, also stacked with government loyalists, declared Maduro the winner of the election. But unlike in previous contests, authorities did not provide any access to voting records or precinct-level results.

The opposition, however, collected tally sheets from 85% of electronic voting machines and posted them online. They showed that its candidate, González, had thrashed Maduro by a more than two-to-one margin. Experts from the United Nations and the Atlanta-based Carter Center, both invited by Maduro’s government to observe the election, have said the tally sheets published by the opposition are legitimate.

The U.S. and other governments have also recognized González as Venezuela’s president-elect. Even many of Maduro’s former leftist allies in Latin America plan to skip Friday’s swearing-in ceremony.

President Joe Biden, meeting González at the White House this week, praised the previously unknown retired diplomat for having " inspired millions."

“The people of Venezuela deserve a peaceful transfer of power to the true winner of their presidential election,” Biden said following the meeting.

Goodman reported from Miami.

Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid to delay sentencing in his New York hush money case

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Supreme Court rejects Trump’s bid to delay sentencing in his New York hush money case

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