The court’s 5-4 order Thursday clears the way for Judge Juan M. Merchan to impose a sentence Friday on Trump, who was convicted in what prosecutors called an attempt to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels.

Judge Juan Merchan on Friday released audio of remarks inside his courtroom during Donald Trump’s “hush money” sentencing. Merchan sentenced the president-elect to an unconditional discharge on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his 2024 trial at the New York Supreme Court.

The nation’s high court denied Trump’s request for an emergency stay, or pause, of the criminal proceedings in his Manhattan case as he fights a set of rulings by state Supreme Court Justice Juan