NEW YORK (AP) – A judge on Monday refused to throw out President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. However, the overall future of this historic event remains uncertain.
Manhattan Judge Juan M. Marchan’s decision thwarts a potential flight by the former and future president from the lawsuit ahead of his return to office next month. However, his lawyers raised other arguments for dismissal. It is unclear when or if a sentencing date will be set.
Prosecutors say some consideration must be made in preparation for his inauguration as the next president, but argue that the conviction should be upheld.
In May, a jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
The allegations include a 2016 attempt to keep her claims that she had a sexual relationship with Daniels, then a married businessman, several years ago from being made public and to keep voters from hearing about them. included a plan to conceal payments to Mr. Daniels in the final days of his presidential campaign. He says there was nothing sexual between them.
A month after the ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents cannot be prosecuted for official acts, i.e., acts committed in the course of running the country, and that prosecutors cannot pursue cases that are purely case-based. It ruled that those acts could not be cited for reinforcement. A personal and informal act.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers then cited a Supreme Court opinion that said hush money jurors would be unable to obtain information on Mr. Trump’s presidential financial disclosure forms, testimony from some White House aides, and social media posts made during his time in office. He claimed that he had obtained inadequate evidence.
In Monday’s ruling, Marchan rejected much of Trump’s argument that some of the prosecution’s evidence related to official conduct and implicated immunity.
The judge ruled that even if some of the evidence turns out to be related to official acts, “the prosecution’s decision to use these acts as evidence of clearly private acts of falsifying business records… It said it would conclude that “the law does not pose a risk of infringement to the authorities.” Functions of the executive branch. ”
Even if prosecutors erroneously introduced evidence that could be challenged under immunity, “such mistakes are harmless given the overwhelming evidence of incrimination,” Marchan continued.
Prosecutors had said the evidence in question was only “a small part” of the case.
President Trump’s communications director, Stephen Chan, said Monday that Marchan’s decision was a “direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity and other longstanding legal precedent.”
“This lawless lawsuit should never have been filed. The Constitution requires that this lawsuit be dismissed immediately,” Chong said in a statement.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment.
Machan’s decision noted that part of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision declares that “not all presidential actions are official.” For example, President Trump’s social media posts were personal, Marchan wrote.
He also cited an earlier federal court ruling that concluded that hush money payments and subsequent reimbursements related to Trump’s private life, not his official business.
Republican Trump will be inaugurated on January 20th. He is the first former president to be convicted of a felony and the first convicted felon to be elected president.
Over the past six months, his lawyers have made significant efforts to obtain a conviction and dismiss the entire case. After Trump won last month’s election, Marchan indefinitely postponed his sentencing, which was scheduled for late November, so that defense attorneys and prosecutors could suggest next steps.
Trump’s defense attorneys argued that anything short of immediate removal would undermine the transfer of power and create unconstitutional “chaos” in the presidency.
Meanwhile, prosecutors proposed several ways to preserve the historic conviction. Proposals include freezing lawsuits until Trump leaves office in 2029. We agree that any future sentence will not include any prison term. Or end the case by saying he was convicted but not sentenced and the appeal was not resolved because he became president.
The last idea is drawn from what some states do when a defendant dies after conviction but before sentencing.
Trump’s lawyers branded the concept “ridiculous” and objected to other proposals.
Trump was indicted four times last year. Only the hush money case went to trial.
After the election, Special Counsel Jack Smith closed two federal cases. These concerns Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago mansion.
Another state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, remains largely on hold.
President Trump has completely denied any wrongdoing.
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