Supreme Court refuses to delay Trump’s hush money sentencing

Donald Trump speaks at Trump Tower on May 31, the day after being found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records at Manhattan criminal court in New York. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

The Washington Post: A closely divided Supreme Court refused to delay Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case, clearing the way for the president-elect to face judgment in a New York courtroom on Friday and to be formally classified as a felon before he returns to the White House.

Trump turned to the high court in a last-ditch effort to stop the hearing, citing the conservative majority’s explosive opinion in July that granted him and other former presidents immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts.

But five of the nine justices said Trump’s immunity concerns about evidence presented at his trial can be addressed “in the ordinary course on appeal.”

Trump is set to be sentenced Friday, after a jury convicted him of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to an adult-film actress during the 2016 election. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial, has said he does not plan to give the incoming president jail time or probation. Read full…