Tengrinews.kz - A court has rejected U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's argument that a recent Supreme Court ruling threw out his criminal case in New York, upholding his conviction for falsifying documents to cover up a sex scandal, according to The New York Times.
The newspaper writes that if the ruling survives appeal, Trump "could become the first felon to serve as president."
"The ruling, which addressed the Supreme Court's decision to grant presidents broad immunity for their official actions, thwarted only the first of several legal maneuvers Mr. Trump has concocted to clear his record of 34 felonies before returning to the White House," the article says.
Prosecutors argued that the Supreme Court's decision "no bearing on this prosecution," emphasizing that Trump was convicted of orchestrating a scheme tied to a personal and political crisis that preceded his presidency.
But Trump's lawyers focused on a controversial part of the Supreme Court's ruling that bars prosecutors from using evidence tied to the president's official actions, even in private wrongdoing cases. They argued that testimony from former White House officials swayed the verdict.
In the first significant interpretation of the controversial ruling, the New York judge presiding over the trial sided with prosecutors, concluding that the testimony concerned Trump's unofficial activities.
"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," the judge, Juan M. Merchan, wrote in a 41-page decision.
And even if the evidence was "admitted in error, such error was harmless," he added, noting the "overwhelming evidence of guilt" introduced at trial.
A spokesman for Trump, Steven Cheung, criticized the ruling, calling it "a direct violation of the Supreme Court's decision on immunity."
“This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed,” Cheung said.
The publication noted that Trump may appeal the judge's decision.
Recall: In May, a jury in a New York court found former US President Donald Trump guilty of falsifying business records in order to conceal the amount paid to former porn actress Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 elections.
Earlier, Trump urges judge to dismiss porn actress payments case. Lawyers are demanding that the charges against re-elected US President Donald Trump in the case on payments to a porn actress be dropped, citing as an argument the decree of the current US President Joe Biden on pardoning his son Hunter.
