A New York judge has ruled that Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity in his Stormy Daniels hush money case.
What’s New
Prosecutors can still proceed with the sentencing of Donald Trump for covering up his hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, though the timing remains unclear. On Monday, New York judge, Juan Merchan, refused to vacate Trump‘s conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Trump had falsified the records to hide his payments to adult film star, Stormy Daniels, who was threatening to disclose their sexual liaison at a Nevada hotel.
The president-elect’s arguments for blocking the sentencing were based on the U.S. Supreme Court‘s July 1 ruling on presidential immunity, which gave Trump broad protection from prosecution.
Why It Matters
Prosecutors have already agreed that Trump can’t be sentenced while he is president. However, Monday’s ruling suggests that Trump may be sentenced when he leaves the White House in 2029.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the Supreme Court had given Trump immunity from official presidential acts and presumptive immunity from acts that were within the wider perimeter of the presidency.
His lawyers argued to Merchan that, during the trial, prosecutors had relied on testimony by a former White House communications director, Hope Hicks, about her discussions with Trump on the scandal and had also relied on Trump’s own social media posts.
Merchan ruled on Monday that all of these acts related to a purely private matter.
“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,” Merchan wrote.
He also noted that the Supreme Court had specifically stated that a president’s public statements, such as social media posts, can be used as evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
“To find otherwise would effectively mean that every statement ever uttered (or posted on social media) by a sitting president, whether personal or official, in his or her own interests or that of the country, would be protected by absolute immunity,” Justice Merchan wrote.
What to Know
Trump was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to his payments to Stormy Daniels.
Trump could yet be imprisoned for those 34 felony counts.
Prosecutors agree that the case should be paused for the second Trump presidency, but want Merchan to sentence Trump when he leaves the White House. There will be extensive legal argument in the courts about whether the case can be continued in 2029, but Judge Merchan’s ruling on Monday has certainly opened a strong possibility that Trump could be sentenced.
What People Are Saying
CNN reporter Kara Scannell, who covered the hush money trial, told the station’s Anderson Cooper 360 show on Monday that the issue of whether the sentencing can continue in 2029 will be the next big decision in the case.
She said Trump “will be working through the court system to try to get this conviction overturned, but this is a big decision here on presidential immunity.”
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin told the same show that Monday’s ruling is very significant because this is the first case “that really analyzes what the Supreme Court decision means — what is unofficial conduct and what is official conduct.”
“The Supreme Court was pretty vague about that distinction,” he said.
He added that Merchan is saying that Trump’s conversations about the Stormy Daniels payments are not immune from prosecution, “even though they were in the Oval Office and even though two of them involved conversations with White House employees. That’s unofficial conduct and that can be admitted in the evidence in this case.”
What Comes Next
Trump will almost certainly appeal Merchan’s ruling to the New York Court of Appeals.
Beyond that, the Supreme Court will likely hear the case, given the serious constitutional issues it raises.
On Monday, Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung suggested that Merchan had acted in violation of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.
He called the ruling “a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity.”
“This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed,” Cheung said in a statement.
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