Former US President Donald Trump leaves the courtroom after a jury found him guilty of all 34 criminal charges in his criminal trial in the New York State Supreme Court in New York on May 30, 2024.
Justin Lin | Via Reuters
A judge on Friday denied a request to dismiss New York's criminal funds case against the president-elect Donald Trump Trump's sentencing is scheduled for January 10, less than two weeks before he is sworn in for a second term in the White House.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said in a written order that he was not inclined to sentence Trump to prison in this case, and that he may impose an unconditional release sentence on him. This means there is no monitoring or fine for the president-elect.
Merchan also said Trump has the option of appearing in person or virtually for next week's sentencing.
In his ruling, the judge rejected Trump's lawyers' arguments that the case should be dismissed because of a US Supreme Court ruling last summer that said presidents enjoy presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts while serving in the White House, and because of the supremacy of the Constitution. item.
Trump's lawyers also argued that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office targeted him for political motives and illegally leaked information about its investigation.
Trump was found guilty at trial in May of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a $130,000 bribe payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels by his then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, before the 2016 presidential election.
“This Court holds that presidential immunity from the criminal proceedings of a sitting president does not extend to a president-elect,” Merchan wrote in his ruling Friday.
“While this court may not, as a matter of law, make any decision on sentencing before the parties and defendants have been given the opportunity to be heard,” the judge also wrote. “It seems appropriate at this stage to announce the Court’s inclination not to impose any prison sentence, a sentence authorized by the conviction, but which the people have acknowledged that they no longer consider to be a practical recommendation.”
The judge also wrote that “a sentence of unconditional release appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality and allow the defendant to pursue his appeal options.”
“Today’s order by Acting Judge Merchant in the Manhattan witch hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and other long-standing case law,” Trump spokesman Stephen Cheung said in a statement.
“This lawless case should never have been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be dismissed immediately,” Cheung said. “President Trump must be allowed to continue the presidential transition process and carry out the vital duties of the presidency, unhindered by the remnants of this or any remnants of the witch hunt. There must be no judgment, and President Trump will continue to fight against these witch hunts.” He tricked them until they all died.”
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