Court refuses to postpone Trump's sentencing in document fraud case

Judge Juan Merchan refused to postpone sentencing, scheduled for January 10, of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the case of forgery of financial documents of the Trump Organization in the payment of money to former porn actress Stormy Daniels. This was reported by The Washington Post (WP) on January 6 with reference to the documents of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.

It is reported that the defendant's motion to stay the case, including sentencing, has been overturned.

"The court has considered the defendant's arguments and finds that they are, for the most part, repetitive of arguments he has made many times before," the judge said.

Before this, on Jan. 3, Trump called the judge's decision to schedule his sentencing for Jan. 10 a farce. He also clarified that the judge's decision violated the statute of limitations and the U.S. Constitution.

Before that, on December 16, the court in New York refused to cancel the guilty verdict against Trump in the case of communication with Daniels. At the same time, the president-elect's lawyers noted that the case should not be filed, while calling it lawless. They also called on the court to immediately halt the proceedings.

On Dec. 4, Trump urged a New York court to dismiss his case about his relationship with Daniels, citing White House chief of staff Joe Biden 's decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden.

According to the prosecution's version, Trump became intimate with porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2006, and in 2016 his lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130 thousand in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement. After his election to the presidency, Trump reimbursed Cohen's financial spending by disguising the payments as legal fees. The checks totaled $420,000.

In May, a jury found Trump guilty in the case of forgery of financial documents. The President-elect himself said after the meeting that it was nothing more than falsification, behind which is the current head of state Joe Biden, who wants in this way to get rid of the main rival in the now past elections. Later, Trump called the jury's decision on the first case a scam and pointed out that now every American is at risk of criminal prosecution.