N.Y. judge denies Trump’s motion to throw out hush money conviction

NEW YORK - A judge on Monday denied a motion by Donald Trump’s lawyers to throw out the president-elect’s 34-count felony conviction based on a broad U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan ruled that Trump’s conviction in May for falsifying business records connected to a hush money payment should not be overturned because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling issued July 1. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling broadly defined official conduct by a president that is protected under the immunity doctrine.

Merchan’s decision said Trump’s request was denied in part because his lawyers did not raise objections to certain elements of the case related to presidential immunity during his trial. Trump’s lawyers failed to “preserve” their rights to make certain immunity-related claims after the trial, the judge wrote.

The judge also said the conduct by Trump at issue in the case was personal and not related to his official duties.

“This Court concludes that if error occurred regarding the introduction of the challenged evidence, which it does not, and such error were excised, such error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt,” Merchan wrote.

Trump can appeal Merchan’s decision or ask a federal court to block a sentencing if one is scheduled. If another court decision does not change the circumstances, Trump could be sworn in for his second term next month as the only U.S. president convicted of a felony.

Merchan separately must decide whether to sentence Trump before he takes office, after his term or not at all.

Trump’s sentencing in state court in Manhattan had been scheduled Nov. 26, but was postponed indefinitely because of other pending motions related to his upcoming second term in office. He faces up to four years in prison, though some legal analysts have said prison time seemed unlikely for reasons including his lack of a prior criminal record.

During his campaign, Trump was indicted four times, twice in federal courts and twice in state courts. His only criminal trial was in Manhattan where a jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to an adult-film actress.

The trial began in April and hinged on a $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress who alleged a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump denies they had sex.

Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen paid Daniels before the 2016 presidential election to keep her from publicly sharing her claims of an encounter. Cohen received reimbursement payments from Trump that were recorded as legal fees in documents maintained by Trump’s company. Prosecutors said classifying the payments as legal fees was criminal.

Witnesses from Trump’s 2016 campaign and from his White House staff testified at the trial. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove argued in court documents that because of the Supreme Court immunity ruling, some of their testimony and other evidence should have been excluded from the trial and grand jury proceeding.

The defense argued that not only should the conviction be thrown out because of legal errors at the trial, Trump’s indictment should be dismissed because grand jurors heard the same flawed evidence. Dismissing the indictment would removed the chance that Trump’s could be re-tried without the problematic evidence.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s trial team has said the case was strong even without the disputed evidence and that the cover-up of the payment was not a matter of a president’s official duties. Prosecutors argued that the Supreme Court decision was not relevant to their case.

“Contrary to defendant’s arguments, that decision has no bearing on this prosecution and would not support vacatur of the jury’s unanimous verdict (let alone dismissal of the indictment) even if its reasoning did apply here,” Bragg’s office wrote on July 24.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung on Monday criticized Merchan’s decision and said the case was interfering with official duties.

The decision “is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity, and other longstanding jurisprudence” Cheung wrote in a statement. “This lawless case should never have been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed, as President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process, and execute the vital duties of the presidency.”