NEW YORK — Donald Trump failed to convince a judge to set aside his conviction in the New York hush money case on presidential immunity grounds, though it’s unclear if the case will still proceed to sentencing as the president-elect continues to challenge the verdict. New York state court Justice Juan Merchan on Monday rejected Trump’s argument that the trial was tainted by testimony and other evidence that shouldn’t have been allowed under a July U.S.
Supreme Court decision that granted presidents broad immunity from criminal charges. Merchan said Trump failed to raise his immunity argument in a timely fashion and didn’t object to the use of certain evidence stemming from his time in the White House — such as testimony from former aide Hope Hicks — until the first day of trial on April 15. But he also ruled that even that testimony wasn’t subject to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
A Manhattan jury in May found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former adult-film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. The verdict on 34 felony counts made Trump the first former president to be convicted of a crime. Prosecutors used evidence to prove “decidedly personal acts of falsifying business records” and that posed “no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch,” Merchan said.
Merchan said that any possible error in admitting evidence was harmless, in that it would not have changed the.
