A divided Supreme Court on Thursday evening cleared the way for President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal sentencing to go forward on Friday morning. In a brief unsigned order issued just after 7 p.m.,

The court turned down Trump's last-minute bid to prevent his sentencing, scheduled for Friday in New York state court in Manhattan 10 days before his inauguration for his second term as president.

Trump's lawyers argued that the justices should step in and pause his sentencing "to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the presidency."