President-elect Donald Trump's attempt to dismiss his “hush money” lawsuit was rejected Friday by a Manhattan judge who had scheduled sentencing 10 days before Inauguration Day.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Marchan has upheld a jury verdict that found Trump guilty of 34 felonies for concealing payoffs for covering up a sex scandal before the 2016 presidential election, allowing voters to give him a second term. He rejected his argument that the incident should disappear because he was elected to the party.
He set Trump's sentencing for January 10, saying it was in the public's best interest to conclude the case before Inauguration Day.
“We find no legal impediments to sentencing and, recognizing that presidential immunity is likely to be granted once the defendant takes the oath of office, we are moving this matter to decide the matter before January 20, 2025. It is the duty of this court to do so,” Marchand wrote. A highly anticipated decision.
“It is the strong belief of this court that only by finally resolving this issue can all three interests be satisfied.''
Trump's lawyers had argued that if Marchan did not overturn the jury's verdict, he would be unconstitutionally interfering with the president-elect's preparations for a second term.
They also argued that the conviction should be overturned based on a July U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted the president immunity for “official acts” after taking office.
The trial was irrevocably “tainted” by evidence jurors heard during President Trump's first term, lawyers argued.
Prosecutors objected that the high court's ruling should not apply because the concealment of a porn star's compensation from the Oval Office does not constitute an “official act” of the president.
In his ruling, Marchand said the sitting president's immunity from criminal prosecution does not extend to the next president.
In his ruling, he said that Trump was the one who asked for his sentencing to be scheduled after the election, and that Trump's claim that “circumstances have changed” as a result of his election victory is “albeit convenient. It's dishonest,” he said.
The judge said Trump could appear in person or virtually for sentencing, which could range from no prison to up to four years on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records he was convicted of. He said he could be sentenced to.
Marchand's decision distracted Trump, 78, from his presidential campaign and sat at the courthouse with former porn star Stormy Daniels, who testified that he had a brief sexual relationship with her. It follows a legal battle that reached a boiling point in which we heard sordid testimony. Him and his former fixer, Michael Cohen.
The lawsuit, filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, uses an unusual legal theory and is legally sophisticated, attacking what critics say is a selective prosecution of the then-front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. It was giving me some space.
The indictment centers on allegations that Trump concealed a $130,000 payment from Cohen to Daniels to silence her story about a 2006 sex act with the married real estate mogul.
Jurors saw 11 invoices, 12 digital ledger entries and 11 checks to Cohen, most of them signed by President Trump, showing that the Trump Organization had repaid Cohen for phony legal services. It was shown that he had disguised himself as
Mr. Bragg's theory in the case was that Mr. Trump's crimes were multilayered.
First, falsifying business records is a misdemeanor, but doing it to cover up another crime is a felony.
Prosecutors say the crime was part of an illegal plot to cover up a sex scandal from voters before the 2016 presidential election, which ultimately saw Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. said.
Jurors heard that Trump collaborated with Cohen and the National Enquirer to tell stories about Daniels' brief trysts and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal's months-long affair with Trump. We found evidence that the company bought the rights to harmful information about Mr. Trump, including stories about him, and covered it up.
“What do I have to pay for this? Fifty-tenths?” Mr. Trump told Mr. Cohen in a secretly made recording, apparently referring to Mr. McDougal's $150,000 compensation.
Bragg's office argues that the “catch-and-kill” benefits violate a vague New York state election law that prohibits “conspiring to promote or prevent the election of any person by 'unlawful means.'” did.
Judge Marchan gave jurors three options for “unlawful means” to support election fraud, including that payments to Daniels exceeded the federal campaign contribution limit of $2,700.
However, the court did not ask the jury to select a specific illegal method on the verdict form. This confusing move gave critics of the case the false claim that the jury did not “unanimously” convict Trump.
Throughout the trial, President Trump repeated his theory that the trial was a “witch hunt” orchestrated by Democrats and declared, without providing solid evidence, that the trial was “rigged” against him.
Mr Bragg is a Democrat and Judge Marchan, who has maintained that politics have no bearing on his rulings, is on record as having donated $35 to Democratic causes in 2020, including $15 to President Joe Biden. shows.
During the six-week trial, President Trump repeatedly violated the judge's limited gag order, marring the trial with daily speeches in the courthouse hallway and berating witnesses and jurors.
“The real verdict will be on November 5th by the people,” he declared in May, shortly after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Americans consistently told pollsters that the outcome of the case would not affect their vote.
In fact, Mr. Bragg's lawsuit arguably helped lead Mr. Trump to victory. His campaign announced that it had raised a “record-breaking” $34.8 million in small donations in the hours after his conviction.
A few months later, Trump won a second term as president with an overwhelming victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the Electoral College.
