Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity in his New York hush money case.
Judge Juan Merchan wrote Monday that the conviction related to his payment to porn star Stormy Daniels should not be dismissed.
It comes as Trump looks to dismiss the case following the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision this summer.
But the judge ruled that the evidence presented in the case earlier this year was “entirely related to unofficial conduct” and therefore did not constitute official actions as president.
“This Court concludes that if there was an error with respect to the introduction of the disputed evidence, such error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt,” Merchan wrote.
“Even if this Court has held that the challenged evidence constitutes official acts under the auspices of the Trump decision, which it does not, Defendant’s motion is still denied because the introduction of the challenged evidence constitutes innocent error and does not process error has occurred. .’
Prosecutors last week asked a New York judge to spare Trump jail time over his hush-money conviction in their new filing. It is an attempt to prevent the case from being dismissed altogether.
Merchan did not rule on that motion on Monday.
Instead, his 41-page decision focused on the issue of presidential immunity.
A jury found Trump guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying company records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels
In documents made public last week, prosecutors offer a range of alternatives to jailing a president to keep his conviction on the books.
They even propose using a procedure that is more commonly used when a suspect dies.
A jury found Trump guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Daniels to keep her quiet before the 2016 presidential election about their extramarital affairs years earlier.
Lawyers for Trump argue that the case should be dismissed now so that it does not hinder his ability to govern once he takes the oath of office on January 20, 2025.
They also argued that the case should be dismissed because of the Supreme Court’s ruling in July that the president of the United States has immunity from prosecution for acts of official office.
The case centered on special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump for allegedly masterminding efforts to overturn the 2020 election during his time in office, including on January 6 during the Capitol riot.
The former and future president’s team argued that Trump, and any president, should have absolute immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office, otherwise it could harm important decision-making.
“The president does not have immunity for his unofficial actions, and not everything the president does is official. The president is not above the law,” the justices led by Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority.
The Supreme Court ruled in July that presidents of the United States enjoy immunity from prosecution for official actions while in office
But Judge Merchen (pictured) wrote in a ruling on Monday that Trump’s actions presented as evidence in the hush money trial were not official actions as president.
In response to Trump’s latest dismissal request, prosecutors say their concerns relate to the possibility of Trump being jailed.
“However, because the defendant here has no prior criminal convictions and has been convicted of Class E felonies, this court is under no obligation to impose a prison sentence at all and could even impose an unconditional discharge.”
“The court may therefore conclude that presidential immunity, even if no discharge is required, still requires a non-incarceration sentence in these circumstances.”
Another idea would be to close the case, but essentially add an asterisk explaining that Trump was convicted, but he was never convicted and his appeal remains unresolved due to presidential immunity.
“This remedy would prevent Defendant from being burdened by a pending criminal proceeding during his presidency,” prosecutors wrote, without ignoring the “fact that Defendant was indicted and found guilty.”
Trump wants the case dismissed altogether.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg offered Judge Juan Merchan a range of options to avoid overturning Donald Trump’s criminal conviction, including removing the prison sentence recommendation
“This lawless case should never have been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be dismissed immediately,” his spokesman Steven Cheung said.
The sentence was originally set for November.
But Judge Juan Merchan halted the proceedings in light of Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory so defense and prosecution attorneys could make comments on how to proceed.
Merchan has not yet set a date for the next step.
In the meantime, Trump has seen many of his legal problems disappear.
Special counsel Jack Smith has dismissed his two federal cases related to government documents recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol after the election.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in all cases against him.