Donald Trump was absolutely desperate to keep New York Judge Juan Merchan from following through with the sentencing he promised for January 10th in the hush money case that found the president-elect guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Trump and his lawyers went through channel after channel, exhausting appeal after appeal until finally taking his request for a delay in sentencing all the way to the Supreme Court. Everyone knows that’s the last resort, especially for a president who packed it full of conservatives likely to rule in his favor.

But Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, as they have occasionally done in the past, split with the rest of the court’s conservatives on Trump’s attempt to avoid sentencing. It resulted in a 5–4 split, in a case that many expected to go 6–3 in the other direction.

As we’ve discussed before, the reason for Trump’s desperation is not because of the possible consequences. Judge Merchan has already indicated that he intends to discharge the case without jail time, probation, or even restitution and fines. But it does leave felony convictions on Trump’s permanent record, and will mark Donald Trump as the very first American president to ever be convicted of a felony — or in fact anything.

In office or out of office, no president has ever been convicted of a crime. Only one was ever even arrested, and it was so long ago that the charge was speeding in his horse-drawn carriage (that was Ulysses S. Grant, for those keen to know).

Now, Grant didn’t show up for court. But Trump will have to, either in person or by Zoom, and it’s pretty safe to assume he’ll opt for the latter, with as much on his plate as he has.

This is the latest in a string of losses for the president-elect, who has lost a number of lawsuits recently against media companies. And shockingly, Attorney General Merrick Garland finally showed his mettle yesterday in deciding to make the reports of Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s findings in the 2020 election interference case against Trump available to Congress and eventually to the public.

Trump had prevailed on his favorite Judge, Aileen Cannon, who had sided with him in keeping those files under wraps. But ultimately it was up to the Department of Justice.

It looks like Trump is about to have a very sad end to a very bad week.