Judge Juan Merchan ruled on Monday that President-elect Donald Trump’s felony conviction in his “hush money” trial should not be dismissed based on the recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
The president-elect’s lawyers sought a dismissal of his May conviction in the New York business records case due to the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States, holding that presidents are protected by broad immunity for official acts performed while in office. Merchan did not, however, rule on whether the conviction should be dismissed due to Trump being elected president last month.
In his 41-page decision, Merchan wrote that the Supreme Court decision did not extend to the felony conviction in New York because the underlying conduct charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was for events that occurred before Trump became president, and Merchan concluded that the evidence introduced from Trump’s presidency was not immunized because they were not official acts.
“This Court concludes that if error occurred regarding the introduction of the challenged evidence, such error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt,” Merchan wrote. “Even if this Court did find that the disputed evidence constitutes official acts under the auspices of the Trump decision, which it does not, Defendant’s motion is still denied as introduction of the disputed evidence constitutes harmless error and no mode of proceedings error has taken place.”
Merchan further argued that the conviction poses “no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch.”
“Further, even if this Court were to deem all of the contested evidence, both preserved and unpreserved, as official conduct falling within the outer perimeter of Defendant’s Presidential authority, it would still find that the People’s use of these acts as evidence of the decidedly personal acts of falsifying business records poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch, a conclusion amply supported by non-motive-related evidence,” Merchan wrote.
Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung called Judge Merchan’s ruling “a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity.””Today’s decision by deeply conflicted, acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity, and other longstanding jurisprudence,” Cheung told Fox News. “This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed, as President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process, and execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this, or any other, Witch Hunt.”
“It is astounding that this case has not yet been dismissed,” Breitbart News senior legal contributor Ken Klukowski said in reaction to the ruling. “There has been numerous violations of President Trump’s rights in this prosecution, and it is in the national interest to end this lawfare so the incoming president can focus all of his attention on addressing the nation’s needs, which is what the American people voted for last month.”
Trump was initially scheduled to be sentenced for the conviction in July before it was repeatedly postponed until after the November election. Trump’s lawyers also filed a second motion to dismiss that raises presidential immunity, which Merchan has not yet ruled on.
The case is The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, No. 71 543-23, in the Supreme Court of New York County.
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