A New York judge ruled today that Donald Trump does not have immunity from his conviction on 34 felony counts in the hush money case.
Judge Juan Merchan concluded that the case did not stem from Trump’s official acts as president. Trump’s attorneys had sought to have the case dismissed based on a Supreme Court ruling last year.
The case centered on falsification of business records related to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, before Trump became president.
Merchan wrote in his ruling that the evidence in the case “relate entirely to unofficial conduct and thus, receive no immunity protections.”
Trump’s attorneys argued that the conviction should be tossed because witness testimony and other evidence fell within the scope of immunity.
But Merchan wrote that “even if this Court were to deem all of the contested evidence, both preserved and unpreserved, as official conduct falling within the outer perimeter of [Trump’s] presidential authority, it would still find that [prosecutors’] 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, a conclusion amply supported by non-motive related evidence.”
More to come.
