Trump’s request to postpone sentencing in the hush-buying case was denied

US President-elect Donald Trump’s attempt was thwarted on Monday to indefinitely postpone this week’s sentencing hearing in his case known as the purchase of silence, while he appeals a ruling that upheld the conviction and paves the way for him to become the first president to take office while convicted of crimes.

Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan ordered the sentencing hearing to go ahead next Friday as scheduled, rejecting the defenses of Trump’s lawyers who asked for it to be postponed while they submitted a request to the Court of Appeals to overturn his decision to maintain the conviction.

Trump can still ask the appeals court to intervene and issue a decision to postpone the hearing.

Otherwise, his sentence will be pronounced a little more than a week before his inauguration for a second term.

Trump’s lawyers informed Judge Merchan that if the sentencing hearing was held, he would attend it via video rather than in person, as the judge granted him this option given the requirements of the presidential transition process.