Judge rejects Trump’s bid to overturn Stormy Daniels hush money conviction | Donald Trump news

A New York judge rejected Trump’s lawyer’s claim that he enjoys immunity from prosecution as a former US president.

A US judge has rejected a claim by Donald Trump’s lawyers that the president-elect’s conviction for paying secret funds should be overturned because the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents enjoy immunity from prosecution.

New York Judge Juan Merchan said on Monday that the US Supreme Court’s decision to grant immunity for “official acts” did not apply to testimony in Trump’s trial, which concerned “entirely informal conduct that does not enjoy the protection of immunity.”

Merchan’s ruling is the latest development in the long-running case against the president-elect, in which a ruling is still pending.

In May, a New York City jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of forging business documents in connection with a $130,000 payment to an adult film actress. Stormy Daniels In the period before Presidential elections 2016.

Prosecutors convinced the jury that Trump’s payments were to cover up a scandal that would have hurt his 2016 campaign against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, whom he ultimately defeated.

Trump’s sentencing was initially scheduled for July 11, but was later postponed to November 26.

Following Trump’s victory in the November 5, 2024 elections Presidential electionsTrump’s lawyers pressed Merchan to dismiss the case “to facilitate the orderly transition of executive power — and in the interest of justice.”

New York prosecutors said they were open to delaying sentencing until after Trump’s second term as president, but rejected his lawyers’ claims that the case should be dismissed immediately.

Trump could face up to four years in prison for each felony count, though court observers say he is unlikely to face a sentence behind bars rather than probation or community service.

Trump’s second term as president will officially begin on January 20, 2025. He is the first US president, past or present, to hold this position. The accused and the convicted crime.

The hush money case is just one of several legal cases the former reality TV star has been involved in.

In late November, he met with US Special Counsel Jack Smith Go to rejection Two criminal cases accused Trump of seeking this Overturning his defeat in the 2020 elections and mishandling classified government documents, indicating his imminent return to the White House.

Also last month, Trump’s lawyers separately asked New York Attorney General Letitia James to vacate a civil judgment against him for fraud and a $464 million fine, “for the greater good of the country,” as he prepares to return to power.

In a letter to Trump’s lawyer John Sawyer, posted on social media, New York Deputy Attorney General Judith Falle denied the request.