Trump appeals to the Supreme Court to stop his New York sentencing

Donald Trump has appealed to the Supreme Court to delay his sentencing in the Stormy Daniels case in New York. This move comes after an appeals court granted Judge Merchan's request to proceed with sentencing on Friday, January 10.

On the record, Trump's legal team filed a motion on Wednesday seeking an immediate stay of Friday's sentencing, arguing it is necessary "to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency and the operations of the federal government."

The Supreme Court will decide the fate of the sentencing in the hush money case, in which Donald Trump and his associates were convicted on 34 counts of document forgery related to payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

The proposed sentencing date was set by Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, in collaboration with Manhattan U.S. Attorney Alvin Bragg. The judge has previously indicated that he intends to impose the lightest possible sentence to avoid interfering with presidential duties, given Trump's upcoming inauguration on January 20.

Trump's legal defense centers on the partial immunity the Supreme Court granted him, using this as part of their argument to delay Judge Merchan's sentencing.

Just one day earlier, Judge Aileen Cannon sided with Donald Trump's lawyers in a separate case involving the classified Mar-a-Lago documents. In that case, the defense had argued for the appeal to block the publication of Special Prosecutor Jack Smith's full report, citing concerns that it contained improperly obtained information.