() The New York judge overseeing President-elect Donald Trump’s porn star case said Monday he won’t toss Trump’s conviction.
Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the indictment on grounds of presidential immunity because he said Trump’s actions in the case were unofficial and thus not protected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent immunity ruling.
“The preserved claims relate entirely to unofficial conduct and thus, receive no immunity protections,” the judge wrote in a 41-page decision and a five-page letter emailed directly to the attorneys.
Merchan also ruled Trump wasn’t protected by immunity from his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
“Today’s decision by deeply conflicted, acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity, and other longstanding jurisprudence,” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement, according to the New York Post.
“This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed, as President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process,” he added.
In July, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled presidents and former presidents have absolute immunity for actions related to core constitutional powers and presumptive immunity for official actions. The ruling said the president has no immunity for unofficial conduct.
In late May, a Manhattan jury convicted Trump of 34 counts of falsifying business records for disguising so-called hush money payments to an adult film actress as legal costs ahead of the 2016 election.
Under New York state law, falsifying business records in the first degree is a Class E felony with a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Office had previously suggested a four-year pause on proceedings in the case until Trump is done with his second term in the White House and the immunity protections no longer apply.
Trump has repeatedly said his political opponents coordinated the criminal cases against him.
Federal prosecutors have already moved to end two criminal cases against Trump – the election interference case in Washington D.C. and the classified documents case in Florida.
