By Luke Cohen and Jack Queen
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump lost an attempt on Monday to overturn his criminal conviction stemming from hush money paid to a porn star in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in July that made prosecutions for the president's official acts illegal. Exemption from was recognized.
Justice Juan Mercant's denial of Trump's motion to dismiss the New York state case closes a path for the Republican president-elect to enter the White House on Jan. 20 for his second four-year term without the blemish of a criminal conviction. it has been.
Trump's lawyers are separately seeking to overturn the decision in the wake of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' defeat in the Nov. 5 election. The merchant has not yet ruled on the motion.
In Monday's 41-page ruling, Merchan sided with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, which brought the case. The lawyers argued that their case dealt with Trump's personal conduct, not his official duties as president.
The judge said that "Trump's impeachment proceedings for alleged personal acts of falsifying business records pose no threat of intrusion on the authority and functions of the executive branch."
In a statement, Trump spokesman Steven Cheng called Merchan's ruling "a direct violation of the Supreme Court ruling on immunity."
The case stems from a $130,000 payment that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. The payment was for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump a decade earlier, which she denies.
A Manhattan jury in May found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up the payments. It was the first time a US president – former or current – had been convicted or charged with a criminal offense.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and called the case an attempt by Bragg, a Democrat, to damage his 2024 campaign.
'Totally Unauthorized Conduct'
The hush money case was the only one of the four sets of criminal charges brought to reach trial against Trump in 2023.
Federal cases involving attempts to change the outcome of the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents upon leaving office have been dismissed, in line with US Department of Justice policy that presidents cannot be prosecuted federally.
Another criminal case against Trump regarding the 2020 election is pending in Georgia state court. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Supreme Court, in a ruling stemming from one of two federal cases against Trump, ruled that the president is immune from prosecution involving his official acts, and that juries are not allowed to present evidence of official acts in private conduct trials. can be done This is the first time the Court has recognized any degree of presidential immunity from prosecution.
Trump's lawyers said the New York jury that indicted him was shown evidence by lawyers of his social media posts as president and conversations he had in the White House during his 2017-2021 term. had heard the testimony of his former colleagues about
Attorneys for Bragg's office responded that the Supreme Court ruling had no bearing on the case, which they called related to "wholly unauthorized conduct." The Supreme Court in its judgment found no immunity for the President's unauthorized acts.
'a lot of measures'
Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced on November 26, but Justice Merchan pushed it back indefinitely after winning his election.
Earlier this month, Trump's lawyers filed a separate motion urging Murchan to dismiss the charges because opposing Trump while he was serving as president would impede his ability to govern.
Bragg's office said there are less than "extreme measures" of overturning the jury's verdict that could address Trump's concerns.
It is not clear when Merchan will rule.