Top New York Court Deals Trump Yet Another Blow on Sentencing

The highest court in New York has declined Donald Trump’s request that they stop his scheduled sentencing in his hush-money case on Friday. Judge Juan M. Merchan will sentence him unless the Supreme Court steps in to deny him.

The president-elect was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide an affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. He has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Merchan has already said he does not intend to sentence Trump to prison. If he is fined, which also seems unlikely, his attorneys are expected to argue that this process is an undue burden on Trump as he prepares to take office again.

Trump has been begging the Supreme Court to help him evade sentencing for weeks now, even trying to incur his presidential immunity—but to no avail thus far.

“I never falsified business records. It is a fake, made up charge by a corrupt judge who is just doing the work of the Biden/Harris Injustice Department, an attack on their political opponent, ME!” Trump railed on Truth Social last weekend.

This story has been updated.

The star witness who falsely alleged that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter took a $10 million bribe from Ukraine was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday.

Republicans repeatedly touted the testimony of Alexander Smirnov as the smoking gun against the president and his son, using it in an attempt to impeach Biden. But in February last year, Smirnov was indicted by special counsel David Weiss and charged with lying about the Bidens’ involvement with Ukrainian energy company Burisma, collapsing House Republicans’ case.

Last month, Smirnov pleaded guilty to four felony charges, which included one count of obstruction of justice and three tax evasion charges, and admitted to fabricating the conspiracy. As a condition of Smirnov’s plea deal, prosecutors agreed to ask for a maximum of six years in prison. Smirnov, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, also has to pay about $675,000 in restitution to the IRS for his tax evasion charges.

Smirnov’s sentencing should end the case against the president and his son, with the only remaining loose end being Weiss’s final report, and Attorney General Merrick Garland will decide whether that should be made public. A jury convicted Hunter Biden on gun charges in June, and he pleaded guilty to tax charges in September. But President Biden pardoned his son before he could be sentenced in either case.

With Donald Trump set to be sworn in as president in less than two weeks, Republicans could attempt to pretend that this entire saga never happened. Or Representative James Comer and company might try to find another “informant” and gin up new charges against the Bidens, following through on Trump’s threats to go after his enemies. Trump’s pick to run the FBI, Kash Patel, zealously wants to put those threats into action. The next few months will show whether this case is really over.

Elon Musk is reneging on his biggest DOGE promise.

In a live interview on X Wednesday evening with political strategist Mark Penn, the billionaire conceded that his initial goal of cutting the federal budget by “at least $2 trillion” was a taller task than he first believed. 

“Do you think the $2 trillion is a realistic number now that you’re looking more closely at it?” Penn asked. 

“I think we’ll try for $2 trillion. I think that’s the best-case outcome,” Musk responded. “But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting one [trillion].” 

This is vindicating for budget specialists who have been deeply skeptical about Musk’s claims from the jump, as cutting $2 trillion from a $6.8 trillion budget is essentially unfeasible. 

Musk has been touting DOGE as a fiscal savior fighting big government ever since Trump named him as co-chair of the advisory body in November. But its potential grows more and more questionable as Trump’s inauguration draws nearer—and as Republican intraparty rifts grow more pronounced. Musk’s retraction on the $2 trillion he boldly proclaimed onstage at the Madison Square Garden Rally is only the latest example. 

Donald Trump appears to have a cozier relationship with the Supreme Court than previously thought.

The president-elect reportedly had a private call with Justice Samuel Alito on Tuesday, according to ABC News. Hours later, Trump filed a request with the court to dismiss his hush-money sentencing.

Alito spoke with Trump to recommend one of his former law clerks to a position within the forthcoming administration. Then, the following day, Trump’s lawyers had their own request of the bench: Block Trump’s criminal hush-money sentencing, reported ABC’s Katherine Faulders.

“William Levi, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position,” Alito told the network on Wednesday. “I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon.”

Levi is reportedly being considered as general counsel of the Department of Defense. Court analysts who spoke with ABC said that while it’s not wholly unusual for sitting justices to recommend their former clerks to future positions, it is rare that they would have a direct conversation with a president in order to do so.

Alito also denied discussing the hush-money case with Trump, telling the network that he and the president-elect “did not discuss any other matter that is pending or might in the future come before the Supreme Court.”

Alito has faced calls from within the government to recuse himself in cases relating to Trump. In July, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced impeachment articles against Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas for their bad habit of accepting lavish gifts from Republican billionaires (and failing to properly disclose them).

Trump requested an administrative stay Wednesday on the sentencing for his sole criminal conviction, claiming that the high court’s July immunity ruling should prevent him from having to face consequences. Trump’s sentencing is currently scheduled for Friday.

Officials at the Federal Reserve are worried that Trump’s policies will cause inflation to rise once again. Recent meeting notes included four separate mentions of the economic impact of changes on immigration, inflation, and trade policy, according to CNBC reporting.

“Almost all participants judged that upside risks to the inflation outlook had increased,” the minutes said. “As reasons for this judgment, participants cited recent stronger-than-expected readings on inflation and the likely effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy.”

Trump has been making broad threats about hardline tariffs against China, Canada, and Mexico, as well as promising mass deportations and deregulation. All of these things are causing the Fed to move carefully.

Officials noted that they still expect inflation to get down to 2 percent, but not until 2027 at the earliest.

“In discussing the outlook for monetary policy, participants indicated that the Committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing,” the meeting minutes said.