Trump loses appeals court bid to block Friday sentencing

A New York state appeals court judge, Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer, on Tuesday ruled that President-elect Donald Trump will have a sentencing hearing on Friday, as scheduled. Trump on Monday asked acting New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to delay his sentencing hearing. Merchan refused the request that same day. Just hours later, Trump asked the appeals court for a hearing on his request to delay the sentence.

Which Trump case is this? Last May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Trump has denied wrongdoing. His attorneys asked for a dismissal of the indictment against him and requested that the jury conviction be vacated. His legal team argued the trial that yielded the conviction wrongly included evidence about official acts he made while in office. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that former presidents enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Sift about how The U.S. Department of Justice has ceased prosecuting Trump.