Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in the New York fake accounting case tomorrow. He asked Judge Juan Merchan to delay it until after Jan. 20, when he could raise the "you-can't-sentence-a-president" argument. The judge didn't buy it and said sentencing will occur on Friday. Trump appealed to a mid-level New York appeals court and on Tuesday, it rejected his appeal. Trump is desperate to avoid the sentence, so he has now appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to delay sentencing.
Normally, the Supreme Court does not take up routine cases, like this one, which have no constitutional aspects at all. It is a Hail Mary play, but that is all that Trump has left. However, all it would take for Trump to win is for the Supreme Court to order Merchan to hold off sentencing until it has time to consider whether it should take the case. By then Trump will be president and can come with entirely new arguments.
Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg opposes delay and wants the sentencing to proceed tomorrow. Merchan has already hinted that his sentence will be "unconditional discharge," which means that Trump stays on the books as a convicted felon, but there is no actual punishment in the form of prison time, a fine, probation, or anything else. Trump doesn't like the idea of being officially a felon with no possibility of ever having his record expunged. Although some legal proceedings go on forever and a day, by tomorrow evening, we will know if Merchan issues the sentence as scheduled. (V)