A New York judge ruled on Monday that Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money trial will stand — for now.
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Donald Trump’s latest attempt to get his felony conviction for falsifying business records thrown out failed after the judge in the case ruled on Monday that the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision does not provide sufficient grounds for overturning the verdict.
This means that, for now, Trump remains the only current or former president to ever have been convicted of a felony.
However, with unlimited money for attorneys at his disposal, as well as a Supreme Court that seems determined to allow him to commit crimes, there is a good chance that the conviction will be thrown out eventually.
But today is not that day.
Judge Juan Merchan, who, along with his daughter, has been a frequent target of MAGA ire, ruled that the Supreme Court’s decision that presidents should be afforded immunity for “official acts” does not apply in this case.
Trump’s lawyers had previously argued that some of the evidence presented during Trump’s trial would fall under the category of official acts.
Merchan was not convinced.
“The [prosecution’s] use of these acts as evidence of the decidedly personal acts of falsifying business records poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the executive branch,” Merchan wrote.
Earlier this year, a jury unanimously found Trump guilty of having falsified business records to cover up the hush money payments he made to a porn star prior to the 2016 election.
In the most recent effort to have that conviction tossed, the president-elect’s attorneys argued that various pieces of evidence introduced before and during the trial were covered under the “official acts” ruling.
Not only was Merchan unconvinced of that argument, but he also noted that even if prosecutors had introduced that evidence in error, this error “was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt.”
However, the felony conviction could still be tossed out, both by Merchan or another court.
As early as this week, Merchan is going to rule on another motion from Trump’s attorneys. This one argues that, because presidents cannot face federal criminal prosecutions, the conviction should be thrown out since Trump has not yet been sentenced.
That long-standing principle was the reason why special counsel Jack Smith sought the dismissal of two additional cases in which Trump faced criminal charges — the one related to his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election and one regarding his hoarding of classified documents.
It’s unclear whether Merchan will rule that a case brought by state prosecutors which has already resulted in a guilty verdict will meet that standard.
Of course, Merchan could also rule that he will freeze the case so that Trump’s sentence would not be handed down until the end of his second term in the White House.
In any case, the president-elect’s lawyers will appeal the current decision to a higher court. And, if all else fails, Trump probably hopes that “his” Supreme Court will come to a different conclusion.
