The New York judge who presided over Donald Trump’s hush money trial denied the president-elect’s bid to vacate his guilty verdict on presidential immunity grounds.
“Defendant’s motion to dismiss the indictment and verdict is denied,” Judge Juan Merchan wrote in a ruling Monday.
He handed down the decision after also denying Trump’s argument that he’s already protected by presidential immunity because of his election win. “This court does not agree,” the judge wrote.
Trump was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment his then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential election. Daniels claimed she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, an allegation he’s denied.
Trump’s attorneys had argued the indictment and verdict should be thrown out in light of a Supreme Court ruling issued weeks later that expanded the scope of presidential immunity.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, they contended, should not have been allowed to present evidence of Trump’s “official acts” to jurors, including public statements relating to the case. Prosecutors countered that evidence didn’t impact the verdict, which they argued should be kept in place.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
