The judge in president-elect Donald Trump’s hush money case accused Trump’s defense lawyers, who are incoming Department of Justice officials, of undermining the judicial system in his ruling to sentence Trump before inauguration.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan accused Trump’s legal team of engaging in “dangerous rhetoric” when calling into question the proceedings’ constitutionality and lawfulness, according to the ruling. Trump’s defense team includes deputy attorney general nominee Todd Blanche and principal associate deputy attorney general appointee Emil Bove.
Trump named Blanche and Bove to their positions on Nov. 14.
“Now however, counsel has resorted to language, indeed rhetoric, that has no place in legal pleadings…” Merchan wrote in his decision. “Viewed in full context and mindful of the parties to this action, such arguments, in the broader picture, have the potential to create a chilling effect on the Third Branch of government.”
A Manhattan jury convicted Trump in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a nondisclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels after a weeks-long trial. Merchan said there is “no legal impediment” to sentencing Trump and ordered him to appear in court on Jan. 10, saying imposing a sentence after his inauguration was “less desirable,” according to the ruling.
Merchan, also according to the ruling, does not plan to give Trump jail time.
Sentencing was initially set to take place before the Republican National Convention in July, but was delayed repeatedly. The first delay was in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity the same month. Sentencing was then delayed indefinitely after Trump’s election victory in November.
White House communications director nominee Steven Cheung addressed the matter in a statement.
“Today’s order by the deeply conflicted, Acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s Immunity decision and other longstanding jurisprudence,” Cheung said. “This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed. President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process and to execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts. There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead.”
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screen Capture/CSPAN)
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