Judge Merchan Rejects Request To Toss Alvin Bragg Charges On Presidential Immunity Basis

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he arrives to court for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024 in New York City.

Judge Juan Merchan has rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney’s request to dismiss charges brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on the basis of presidential immunity.

The trial evidence, according to Merchan on Monday, was “entirely to unofficial conduct and thus, receive no immunity protections.” 

“Further, even if this Court were to deem all of the contested evidence, both preserved and unpreserved, as official conduct falling within the outer perimeter of Defendant’s Presidential authority, it would still find that the People’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, a conclusion amply supported by non-motive-related evidence,” Merchan wrote. 

The decision followed in July when President-elect Trump and his staff asked Merchan to reverse the guilty conviction in New York v. Trump, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision regarding how presidents are immune from prosecution for official actions.

The judge also said that “if error occurred regarding the introduction of the challenged evidence, such error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt.”

He rejected the request, but has yet to rule on Trump’s formal motion to dismiss the case altogether.

Meanwhile, Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News that the decision is a violation of the U.S.  Supreme Court’s decision on immunity.

“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,” Cheung said. “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, and execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this, or any other, Witch Hunt.”

“The sooner these hoaxes end, the sooner our country can unite behind President Trump for the betterment of all Americans,” he added. 

As part of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s years-long investigation into the president-elect, Trump entered a not guilty plea to 34 charges of first-degree falsification of business documents. Bragg brought charges against Trump, and the inquiry was initiated by former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

After an unprecedented six-week trial in New York City, a liberal New York jury found the former president guilty on all counts. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a former president has substantial immunity for official acts carried out while in office.

In a formal motion filed in July, Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, cited the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and argued that certain evidence related to “official acts” should not have been admitted during the trial.

Blanche specifically contested the inclusion of testimony from former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks and former Special Assistant to the President Madeleine Westerhout. He also challenged evidence regarding the Special Counsel’s Office, Congressional investigations, the pardon power, Trump’s responses to FEC inquiries, his “presidential Twitter posts,” and other related testimony, claiming they were impermissibly admitted during the proceedings.

Earlier this month, Trump attorneys officially requested to “immediately” dismiss charges against the president-elect in New York v. Trump, declaring the “failed lawfare” case “should never have been brought.” 

“The case would never have been brought were it not for President Trump’s political views, the transformative national movement established under his leadership, and the political threat that he poses to entrenched, corrupt politicians in Washington, D.C. and beyond,” Trump attorneys said. “Wrongly continuing proceedings in this failed lawfare case disrupts President Trump’s transition efforts and his preparations to wield the full Article II executive power authorized by the Constitution pursuant to the overwhelming national mandate granted to him by the American people on November 5, 2024.”

Trump’s lawyers pointed out that the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel came to the conclusion that “the categorical prohibition on the federal indictment of a sitting president…even if the case were held in abeyance…applies to this situation.”

Last month, Bragg asked Judge Juan Merchan to postpone the case until the end of Trump’s second term.

They further stated that Bragg’s “ridiculous suggestion that they could simply resume proceedings after President Trump leaves Office, more than a decade after they commenced their investigation in 2018, is not an option.”

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