(BBC) President-elect Donald Trump has asked a New York judge to halt the sentencing in his felony hush money case, which is scheduled for 10 January.
His lawyers announced on Monday that Trump would appeal the decision by Justice Juan Merchan ordering that the sentencing would proceed.
In court filings, Trump’s attorneys wrote they would seek “a dismissal of this politically motivated prosecution that was flawed from the very beginning”.
Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May 2024, making him the first former president convicted of a crime.
The charges stemmed from Trump’s attempt to disguise reimbursements for a hush money payment to an adult film star as legal expenses.
Trump pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. His lawyers said that filing an appeal should halt the criminal proceedings in his New York case.
The sentencing had been delayed repeatedly by the 2024 presidential election and Trump’s attempt to have the case thrown out based on a claim of presidential immunity. Justice Merchan ultimately rejected the immunity argument in December.
On 3 January, Justice Merchan issued an order saying he would move ahead with the sentencing before Trump took office, but wrote that he would not consider any sentence of incarceration.
He ordered Trump to appear virtually or in-person for the hearing.
