Trump's Lawyers Ask Judge To Halt Friday's Hush Money Case Sentencing While They Appeal To Block It

President-elect Donald Trump asked a judge Monday to halt this week's sentencing in his hush money case while they appeal a ruling upholding the verdict.

Trump's lawyers said they plan to ask a state appeals court to reverse Judge Juan M. Merchan decision last week, which set the case for sentencing on Friday.

Merchan rejected Trump's bid to throw out the verdict and dismiss the indictment in light of his impending return to the White House.

Trump's lawyers argued that their appeal should trigger what's known as an automatic stay, or pause, in the proceedings. If that doesn't happen, they argued, Merchan should then grant a pause and prevent sentencing from happening on Friday as scheduled.

In his decision last week, the judge signaled he is not likely to sentence Trump, a Republican, to any punishment for his historic conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records .