A New York judge will decide Tuesday whether to overturn Donald Trump’s conviction in a criminal “hush money” case, based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity earlier this year.
President-elect Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments to porn star Stormy Daniels before Trump was elected president in 2016. He could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.
In July, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump enjoys absolute immunity from prosecution for “official acts” while president. The country’s highest court has left it to lower courts to determine what constitutes “official acts” by a sitting president.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Marchan had postponed sentencing for more than four months until after the election.
If the conviction is upheld, President Trump, 78, is scheduled to be sentenced on November 26, less than two months before he takes office.
Legal experts say President Trump’s overwhelming election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris will embolden his legal team to make sure the ruling never goes through.
ABC 7 reports that prosecutors say the crimes took place before the president was inaugurated and that the case focuses on conduct that is “entirely personal” and “has nothing to do with the president’s official duties.” It has nothing to do with it.”
“The evidence he claims was influenced by the Supreme Court’s decision is the mountain of testimony and documentary evidence that the jury considered in finding him guilty of all 34 felonies beyond a reasonable doubt. “It’s just a small part of that,” the prosecutor said.
Trump’s lawyers said certain evidence presented to the jury could confuse jurors’ understanding of the case, including conversations with former White House communications director Hope Hicks and social media posts from his time as president. claimed to have done so.
Even if Marchand overturns his conviction, the judge could still order a new trial, which would be delayed for at least four years until President Trump leaves office. There is also the possibility that the charges will be dismissed entirely.
Meanwhile, Justice Department officials said special counsel Jack Smith had filed two cases while Trump was out of office related to Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election and the preservation of classified documents. The lawsuit is likely to be dropped.
The Justice Department has a long-standing policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents, and Justice Department officials have acknowledged that it would be futile to pursue charges before Trump’s inauguration on January 20. It is reported that.
“Many legal scholars, including myself, agree that he almost certainly will never see the inside of a prison,” Wayne Unger, assistant professor of law at Quinnipiac University, told the Post last week. Ta.
Former prosecutor Neema Rahmani agreed, saying, “Trump won, so his criminal case is resolved.”
Once in office, the next commander-in-chief could simply pardon himself in both federal cases, or he could order the new attorney general to fire Smith and order the Justice Department to drop both cases. .
