N.Y. appellate judge allows Trump's Friday hush money sentencing to go forward

The Supreme Court justices have thrown Trump a procedural lifeline before, though. We saw them expedite both Trump's 14th Amendment and presidential immunity appeals. It only takes four justices to agree to hear a case, and there are six conservatives on the Court. The fact that the Supreme Court asked prosecutors to respond to Trump's appeal is also a good sign for the president-elect."

Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Newsweek

All of this is puzzling why Trump's attorneys would file at SCOTUS, designating the NY Court of Appeals as the lower court, before ever filing with them. For ex: In Bush v. Gore, Florida's high court weighed in before SCOTUS grabbed it."

Frank Runyeon, a New York courts reporter for Law360, wrote on X, (formerly Twitter

If the Trump legal team misrepresented to the Supreme Court the filing status of a contemporaneous filing in New York's highest court, that would pose both a credibility issue and a possible procedure hurdle for Trump."

McAuliffe told Newsweek

Trump has federal constitutional arguments related to presidential immunity, but normally defendants in state cases must exhaust state appeals before they can appeal to the United States Supreme Court."

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek

President Trump is already suffering grave irreparable injury from the disruption and distraction that the trial court abruptly inflicted by suddenly scheduling a sentencing hearing for the President-Elect of the United States, on five days' notice, at the apex of the Presidential transition. These harms continue to increase as the New York courts deny relief and the sentencing hearing approaches."

Trump attorneys John Sauer and Todd Blanche told the Supreme Court in Tuesday's filing

Nothing about Donald Trump and the legal system is normal, so we'll all wait to see how the state and federal courts address his latest moves––moves that would be characterized as desperate in any other circumstance. With Trump, many of his legal actions are desperate until they succeed."

Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek

Forcing President Trump to prepare for a criminal sentencing in a felony case while he is preparing to lead the free world as President of the United States in less than two weeks imposes an intolerable, unconstitutional burden on him that undermines these vital national interests,

Tuesday's filing states

That allows the Supreme Court to consider whether there is an adequate and independent state law basis for the decision, for instance. That is why the Supreme Court rarely considers these types of interlocutory appeals."

He continued

In the traditional, normal legal process, the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court should only follow denial of relief by the New York Court of Appeals,

the state's highest court, former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek

Intervention by the Supreme Court prior to sentencing in a state criminal case isn't something that occurs,

he said

The upcoming sentencing is in a state criminal case, and the case should move through the state court system prior to any petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trump team is playing all angles by attempting to seek relief both in the state system and in the U.S. Supreme Court."

He went on

The Supreme Court's historic decision on Immunity, the Constitution, and established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed,

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement

This Court should enter an immediate stay of further proceedings in the New York trial court to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government,

Trump's lawyers wrote in the new filing

President Trump’s legal team filed an emergency petition with the United States Supreme Court, asking the Court to correct the unjust actions by New York courts and stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt,

Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital

We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again."

He added