U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito says he spoke to President-elect Donald Trump a day before the politician filed an emergency application before the country’s apex court to halt hush money sentencing late Tuesday.

Mr Trump has been trying to stop Friday sentencing in his hush-money case ahead of the presidential inauguration in less than two weeks but was unsuccessful with his application at the appeals court on Tuesday and immediately rushed to file a similar application to the Supreme Court.

With the Supreme Court expected to consider the application before Friday, Mr Alito, one of the justices on the apex court bench, has decided to disclose the phone call he had with Mr Trump.

However, Mr Alito maintained that the call had nothing to do with the emergency application filed by Mr Trump but discussion about a job for one of his former law clerks in the president-elect’s administration.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Alito, a conservative, said the call was about William Levi “regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position.”

Mr Alito added that he and Trump “did not discuss any other matter that is pending or might in the future come before the Supreme Court or any past Supreme Court decisions involving the president-elect.”

It is not uncommon for justices to recommend former clerks for top government appointments and law firm jobs. However, Mr Alito’s direct call to Mr Trump, which coincides with the politician filing an application a day later, appears usual.

“We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today, and indeed, I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed,” Mr Alito said.