Judge Juan Merchan on Monday denied Trump’s lawyers’ request to dismiss the indictment filed against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg based on presidential immunity.
The ruling comes after newly elected President Trump and his team in July requested Merchan to overturn his guilty verdict in the case of New York v. Trump, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents have immunity from official acts.
Merchan ruled that the evidence presented at trial was “entirely related to unofficial conduct and thus received no immunity protection.”
“Further, even if this Court were to view all of the challenged evidence, both preserved and unpreserved, as official conduct falling within the outer limits of Defendant’s presidential authority, it would still conclude that the use of this acts by the People in evidence of the decidedly personal actions of falsifying business records do not threaten to impair the authority and function of the executive branch, a conclusion amply supported by non-motive-related evidence,” Merchan wrote.
Merchan also argued that the Court said, “If an error occurred with respect to the introduction of the disputed evidence, such error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt.”
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Merchan denied that request, but has yet to rule on newly-elected President Trump’s formal motion to dismiss the case entirely.
“Today’s decision by the deeply conflicted, acting Judge Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity and other long-standing case law,” Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director told reporters. , Steven Cheung, to Fox News Digital. “This lawless case should never have been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be dismissed immediately as President Trump must be given the opportunity to continue the presidential transition process and carry out the vital functions of the presidency unhindered by the remains of this, or another, Witch Hunt.”
FILE – Judge Juan M. Merchan poses in his chambers in New York, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, file)
Cheung added: “The sooner these hoaxes end, the sooner our country can rally behind President Trump for the betterment of all Americans.”
Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of first-degree falsifying corporate records stemming from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s yearlong investigation into alleged hush money payments. Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance initiated the investigation and Bragg prosecuted Trump.
After an unprecedented six-week trial in New York City, a jury found the president guilty on all counts.
The US Supreme Court ruled that a former president has substantial immunity for official acts committed while in office.
In the formal July motion, Trump attorney Todd Blanche pointed to the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and argued that certain evidence of “official acts” should not have been admitted at trial.
Blanche specifically argued that the testimony of former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks; former special assistant to President Madeleine Westerhout; testimony on the Special Counsel’s Office and Congressional Investigations and the pardon power; testimony on President Trump’s response to FEC investigations; his presidential Twitter posts and other related testimony were admitted inadmissible at trial.
Former President Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Emily Elconin/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Trump’s lawyers formally requested that charges against the newly elected president be dropped “immediately.” New York vs Trump, declaring that the “failed lawsuit” case “should never have been filed.”
TRUMP REQUESTS NY JUDGE FOR GUILTY VERDICT, CHARGE AFTER SCOTUS IMMUNITY EXCLUSION
Lawyers for Trump said the case “would never have been brought without President Trump’s political views, the transformative national movement created under his leadership and the political threat he poses to entrenched, corrupt politicians in Washington, D.C. and out there.”
Trump attorneys said that “the improper continuation of proceedings in this failed lawsuit disrupts President Trump’s transition efforts and his preparations to exercise the full Article II executive power authorized by the Constitution, under the overwhelming national mandate granted to him by the American people on November 5. 2024.”
Bragg asked Judge Juan Merchan last month to stay the case until the end of Trump’s second term, but Trump’s lawyers noted that the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that “the categorical ban on the federal charge against a sitting president… even if the case was adjourned… this applies to this situation.”
They added that Bragg’s “ridiculous suggestion that they could simply resume the proceedings after President Trump leaves office, more than a decade after they began their investigation in 2018, is not an option.”
This is a development story. Check back later for updates.
