A New York judge upheld a jury’s verdict that made President-elect Trump a felon, ruling the conviction in the hush money case can withstand the Supreme Court’s new test for presidential immunity.
Judge Juan Merchan’s decision comes on the heels of Trump’s presidential election victory against Vice President Harris, when voters chose to catapult him back to the White House despite his years of legal peril.
The judge has not yet ruled on Trump’s efforts to toss the case entirely now that he is president-elect.
Trump’s attorneys contended that New York prosecutors introduced evidence during his seven-week trial that was protected by the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity doctrine.
After the trial, the high court held that former presidents enjoy absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for exercising core constitutional powers and at least presumptive immunity for other official acts. Unofficial conduct can be prosecuted, but the jury cannot question the motivation behind a presidential decision, the court said.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) urged the judge to reject Trump’s arguments, arguing that no evidence placed before the jury was protected, and even if it was, it paled in comparison to “other overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt.”
Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records tied to a $130,000 hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election to conceal an affair, which he denies. Prosecutors with the district attorney’s office portrayed the scheme as an effort to unlawfully influence the election’s outcome.
The New York hush money case was the first-ever criminal prosecution of a former president, and the only one to have reached trial.
Trump has separately argued that his White House victory compels the dismissal of the jury’s verdict and the case in its entirety. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) has pushed back, instead laying out alternatives like freezing the proceedings during Trump’s term.
The judge has yet to rule on that matter.
Trump’s other criminal proceedings have fared worse following his presidential win.
