Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito spoke with President-elect Donald Trump about a former law clerk the day before Trump went to the high court in a push to delay the sentencing in his New York hush-money case.

President-elect Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent a New York state court from sentencing him for his conviction on criminal charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.

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."