Following his landslide election victory, President-elect Trump is still scheduled to be sentenced in his criminal case in Manhattan later this month, where Judge Juan Merchan will issue his first ruling on whether to dismiss the charges outright following her presidential immunity ruling. Supreme Court earlier this year.
Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records following his criminal trial in Manhattan in May. Attorney General Alvin Bragg’s office worked to prove that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to quell her allegations of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case. issue.
Trump is scheduled to issue the ruling on November 26, already a four-month delay from the original date of July 11.
Trump’s lawyers had asked Merchan to overturn the former president’s conviction in New York v. Trump after the Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents enjoy significant immunity from prosecution for their official actions, but not for their unofficial actions. Merchan is expected to issue his decision by November 12 on the status of the charges.
“The ordinary judge will dismiss this case, and then the prosecutor will have to decide whether to stay, so that we can consider refiling the case. But Judge Merchan has proven that he is only an ordinary judge. So the problem here is that if he is a normal judge, he will He refuses to do so, but because it’s not normal, he’ll probably deny it, but because it’s a claim of immunity, it gives Trump’s defense team the right, legally speaking, to the Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, told Fox News Digital. Indeed, to appeal his refusal immediately.”
Trump’s ‘Witch Trial in the Present Day’ Suggests ‘Open Season’ on Former Presidents: Experts
Former President Trump took the stage to address his supporters at his rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Even if Merchant denies Trump’s claim of immunity, Trump’s team appeals the decision and the appeals court also rejects Trump’s claim, the president-elect would not face prison, Stimson said.
“For all intents and purposes, no matter what happens then [Merchan] He denies it, and the Court of Appeal… follows the judge, and then the judge judges him. And even then the Justice Department will come out and say, “Look, under the Supremacy Clause, you can’t impose a criminal sentence, especially a prison sentence, on a sitting president.” Therefore, this issue will remain pending even after Trump leaves office. But as a practical matter, this case and the Fanny Willis case are over.”
Judge Juan Merchan poses for a photo in his chambers in New York on March 14. (AP Photo)
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case and denied any such relationship with Daniels. The current president-elect had criticized the trial as “sham,” while describing Merchan as “corrupt” and “conflicting,” in an apparent reference to the judge’s family ties to the Democratic Party. Trump also criticized the case, calling it a “legal war” promoted by the Biden-Harris administration to harm his chances of success in the 2024 presidential election.
Trump cannot pardon himself at his inauguration, because it was a state issue.
Former President Trump appears in court with members of his legal team to be indicted on charges arising from the indictment brought against him by a Manhattan grand jury in New York City on April 4, 2023. (Reuters/Andrew Kelly/Pool)
Stimson continued that, given the Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity, it would be impossible to use a scalpel in the case and remove evidence related to Trump’s first administration in the White House and “official actions” in office from evidence related to his life before that. He was president.
Trump’s lawyers ask to move the New York criminal case to federal court, citing the SCOTUS immunity ruling
“[Merchan] Not your traditional judge, but he’s not going to say there’s no immunity for Trump because… the highest court in the country has said that presidents have absolute immunity for their official actions, so he has to realize that the question is whether… “He has the temperament and judgment — which he’s proven he doesn’t have, at least not yet — to do this in a fair and impartial manner and get the charges dropped.”
“By denying the accusations, it puts the ball back in Alvin Bragg’s court. If Alvin Bragg wants to double down on his stupid efforts, which he has done a lot of times, he can [reopen the case]. But he will get nowhere with this, because by then, the president will have taken office. He continued: “And the Department of Justice will move under the supremacy clause, which states that you cannot file your case, your criminal case, against a sitting president while he is the president.”
Judge Merchant postpones sentencing of Trump until after the election
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks to the media after a jury found former President Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on May 30 in New York. (AFP/Seth Wing)
Andrew McCarthy, a Fox contributor and former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, also wrote in a Fox Digital op-ed this week that Trump will not face prison time in the case.
“Understand that Trump will not go to prison even if Merchan serves a prison sentence. Although the charges are felonies, they are not serious enough under New York law to merit immediate detention; Trump will receive bail pending appeal,” he wrote.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Given that Trump will not be sent to Rikers Island by a judge in Manhattan under any circumstances, it would be wise to postpone the ruling and allow Trump to pursue his immunity appeal. This would avoid the inappropriateness of subjugating the next president of the United States.” “The United States will seek criminal conviction and punishment when he is about to take office.”
McCarthy later added in his article: “The lawfare has been terrible for the country. The Americans’ resounding victory for Trump should be a death knell.”
