WASHINGTON − President-elect Donald Trump has made an emergency plea to the Supreme Court, asking it to block his sentencing scheduled for Friday in his hush-money criminal case in New York.

A judge declined Trump’s request for a postponement of the sentencing on Tuesday.

This legal struggle comes as Trump gears up for his return to the White House on Jan. 20, during which he has claimed that the sentencing could disrupt his transition into office.

He is seeking to pause all proceedings while he argues that his conviction should be annulled due to presidential immunity.

Trump has been found guilty of falsifying business records to conceal payments made to an adult film actress.

New York state Associate Judge Ellen Gesmer denied the request for a sentencing delay on Tuesday, just one day after Judge Juan Merchan dismissed a similar request. Judge Merchan had previously turned down Trump’s efforts to have the case dismissed altogether.

Judge Merchan stated that the most effective approach to resolve the matter was to proceed with sentencing Trump without imposing prison time, fines, or probation while his appeals are ongoing. He noted that Trump’s request for delay was mainly “a repetition of the arguments he has raised numerous times in the past.”

Trump argues that a Supreme Court ruling from July, which granted former presidents immunity from criminal charges for actions taken while in office, protects him against the New York charges.

In May, Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The payments involved were made to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who then compensated adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter prior to the 2016 election.

Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, contends that the immunity protecting sitting presidents from criminal charges for their actions while in office also applies during the transitional period between election and inauguration. However, since Trump is the first former president ever to face criminal charges or convictions, the matter of immunity remains largely untested in a legal context.

Judge Merchan concluded that the case pertained to Trump’s personal conduct.