December 17th 2024.
A recent ruling by a New York judge has determined that the ongoing hush money trial against former President Donald Trump will not be put on hold, despite his recent election as President of the United States. As reported by The Hill, Judge Juan Merchan has made this decision despite the U.S. Supreme Court's previous ruling on presidential immunity. While Trump's legal team had argued that evidence presented by New York prosecutors should be protected under the immunity doctrine, Judge Merchan has yet to make a final decision on their efforts to have the case dismissed entirely.
According to the President-elect's legal team, the evidence presented during the seven-week trial, including testimony from White House aides, tweets from Trump while in office, and his government ethics form, should be protected under presidential immunity. However, Judge Merchan has ruled that because Trump failed to raise his immunity objections earlier in the trial, they cannot be considered now. In his ruling, the judge stated that the evidence presented relates to unofficial conduct and therefore receives no immunity protection. And even if the evidence were to be considered official conduct, the judge is confident that it would not interfere with the authority and function of the Executive Branch.
Despite Trump's team's claims of misconduct and violation of the Supreme Court's decision on immunity, Judge Merchan has made it clear that the evidence presented in this case is overwhelming and points to Trump's guilt. The former President was convicted in May 2024 on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, which he denies. The prosecution alleged that Trump and his team conspired to hide the payments to Daniels during the final days of his 2016 presidential campaign in an attempt to prevent her from going public.
Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, has strongly condemned the judge's ruling, calling it a violation of the Supreme Court's decision on immunity and other longstanding jurisprudence. In a statement, Cheung stated that this case should have never been brought to court and that the Constitution demands it be immediately dismissed. This hush money case marks the first-ever criminal prosecution of a former president and the only one to make it to trial.
In his decision, Judge Merchan also referenced a previous Supreme Court ruling that stated "not everything the president does is official." This was used to support his argument that Trump's social media posts were personal and not related to his official duties. Another federal court ruling has seemingly sided with the judge, stating that the hush money payment and reimbursements were part of Trump's private life and not his official duties.
In related news, rapper 50 Cent recently commented on the ongoing partnership between the NFL and JAY-Z's Roc Nation. Despite some controversy surrounding the partnership, 50 Cent sees it as "good news" and believes it will be a successful collaboration. This shows that the former President's legal troubles are not the only news making headlines, as other current events continue to capture the public's attention.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
