Judge Merchan Denies Trump Request to Dismiss Case on Immunity

Once again, Donald Trump and his attorneys have tried to have the Alvin Bragg hush money case dismissed on the basis of presidential immunity.

Once again, his motion has been denied.

Trump will scream from the high heavens, and his MAGA supporters will disagree, but legally speaking, this was the right decision.

Motion Denied

The crimes that Trump is alleged to have committed took place while he was a private citizen, not a president.

Secondly, even if he was president at the time, this was his business, not an official act of a sitting president, so immunity would not apply. And any legal so-called expert that argues otherwise is simply wrong, period.

Now, this has nothing to do with the actual charges, which I have stated many times that I believe are bogus, and, forgive the pun, trumped up.

This should have been a misdemeanor that resulted in nothing more than a fine, back taxes, penalties, and a public slap on the wrist, not three-dozen felony charges.

Merchan actually addressed this very subject in his ruling, stating, “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.”

Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, responded, “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.”

Again, Cheung is 100% wrong by saying the Supreme Court’s decision should give Trump immunity in this case. He is just flat-out wrong.

You might be able to make other arguments to dismiss this case, but presidential immunity is not one of them.

Trump does have another motion to dismiss this case that is also active, but that also brings presidential immunity into its argument, so I would expect Trump to lose that motion as well.