Trump asks Supreme Court to block sentencing in his hush money case in New York

Trump was convicted in May after a jury unanimously found him guilty of a criminal conspiracy to “catch and kill” damning stories that could have derailed his chances of becoming president in 2016.

Numerous stories were buried on Trump’s behalf, but the case specifically related to a $US130,000 hush money payment Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, which involved Trump falsifying business records to conceal his actions.

While the payment was brokered before Trump won the 2016 election, his lawyers argue that some evidence at trial focused on official actions he took while he was in power during his first term.

The hush money trial was the only criminal case that made it to trial last year. The president-elect originally faced a trial in Washington, DC, for trying to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, another one in Georgia for trying to subvert the election results in that state, and a trial in Florida for mishandling classified documents.

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But while Trump has managed to either delay or kill off each of the other cases, he was dealt a blow on Wednesday after he lost a bid to block the release of a potentially damning report by Special Counsel Jack Smith into the Washington election interference case.

Smith had planned to release his final report some time this month before resigning from his position before Trump takes office on January 20, when he was expected to be fired by the new administration.

While the report will no longer have legal sway given Trump’s status as president-elect and long-standing Justice Department policy against bringing charges against a sitting president, it is likely to contain explosive details about Trump’s actions as he sought to overthrow Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020.