Judge rejects Trump's latest bid to fight hush money case sentencing

• Trump has waged a legal battle to get out of the Jan. 10 court date, despite the fact that Judge Juan Merchan has already indicated that he won't face jail time.
• Trump's request to the appeals court came a day after Merchan rejected yet another bid to halt the sentencing.

The big picture: Trump's lawyers argued in the 500-page court filing Tuesday that the presidential immunity protections for a sitting president extend to a president-elect during the transition period between administrations.

• Merchan had ruled presidential immunity does't apply to Trump's hush money case because he is not yet the president.
• Trump's attorneys argued that Merchan "is without authority under the law to proceed to sentencing while President Trump exercises his federal constitutional right to challenge these rulings, and the erroneous jury verdict in the underlying criminal case must be vacated."

The intrigue: The New York State Appeals Court denied Trump's request just hours after it was filed.

• Justice Ellen Gesmer's ruling means the sentencing to move forward as planned.

Zoom out: Trump was convicted in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels over an alleged sexual encounter.

• The payment to Daniels occurred in 2016, before Trump was elected president for his first term.

Go deeper: Where Trump's cases stand as Inauguration Day nears

Editor's note: The story has been updated with news the appeals court rejected the request.