The Supreme Court hands Trump a loss in his bid for legal immunity

By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court handed a largely symbolic, but still politically significant, loss to President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday evening. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, both Republicans, voted with all three of the Court’s Democrats.

The case, known as Trump v. New York, involves Trump’s felony convictions for falsifying business records related to hush money payments Trump made to an adult actress. Trump was convicted on 34 felony charges last May, but he is not scheduled to be sentenced until Friday. Trump had asked the Supreme Court to halt that sentencing hearing, at least until higher courts hear his appeals claiming that his conviction violates a legal doctrine, newly established by the Supreme Court’s recent immunity ruling in favor of Trump, which gives former presidents broad but not limitless immunity from prosecution.