President-elect Donald Trump lost a bid Monday to get his 34 felony convictions tossed out based on a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, but he still has multiple avenues to fight the hush money case.
New York Judge Juan Merchan ruled Monday that evidence presented at Trump’s trial related to Trump’s unofficial conduct, not to his official acts as president, and so the evidence was proper. For instance, Merchan wrote that testimony about conversations with Trump dealing with an alleged sexual encounter before Trump’s presidency weren’t the type of public interest the Supreme Court was concerned about in its immunity ruling.
Trump took to social media Tuesday to rail against Merchan’s decision as “a completely illegal, psychotic order” that disrespected the Supreme Court.
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As upset as Trump seemed following the latest ruling, he still has arguments and potential strategies for fighting his felony convictions, and even the prosecution has suggested sentencing may not be appropriate anytime soon.
“I think the fight is, ‘Does the conviction survive or not?'” Joshua Naftalis, a New York trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor, told USA TODAY. “And jail is sort of off the table.”
Former US President Donald Trump after a jury found him guilty on all 34 counts in his criminal trial in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan on May 30, 2024. Trump faced 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump was convicted May 30 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Daniels has alleged that she and Trump had a sexual encounter in 2006, a claim Trump denies.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office declined to comment. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement that the case, which he called a “Witch Hunt,” should never have been brought and should now be dismissed.
Here’s a look at what comes next:
Will Trump take office as a felon?
So far, it looks like Trump’s 34 felony convictions will be in place when he takes office on Jan. 20, 2025. However, he still has other arguments pending before Judge Merchan for getting the convictions thrown out.
Earlier this month, the president-elect’s legal team filed a motion arguing that the case – including Trump’s convictions and indictment – should be thrown out because the ongoing proceedings are interfering with the presidential transition and will soon directly interfere with his presidency.
Simply delaying proceedings until after Trump’s presidency would still create “unacceptable diversions and distractions from President Trump’s efforts to lead the Nation,” according to Trump’s motion.
More: NY judge upholds Trump hush money conviction despite Supreme Court’s immunity ruling
The prosecutors who won the conviction against Trump are fighting back, arguing that “President-elect immunity does not exist,” and that Trump’s temporary immunity after his inauguration “will still not justify the extreme remedy of discarding the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict.”
Judge Merchan wrote in a Monday letter that he is currently reviewing those arguments. He didn’t say when he will rule on them.
Will Trump ever be sentenced?
Trump has successfully delayed his sentencing, which was originally scheduled for July 11, several times. The latest scheduled date, Nov. 26, was wiped from the calendar following Trump’s election.
At this point, it’s unclear if Trump will ever be sentenced.
Prosecutors have floated multiple options for Judge Merchan, including delaying sentencing until after Trump’s next presidency or closing Trump’s case and cancelling sentencing permanently, while still noting he was convicted but he didn’t get a chance for his post-conviction appeal to play out.
Still, Merchan may consider pushing for sentencing ahead of Trump’s inauguration as one way to create some finality in the case, as opposed to waiting another four years, according to New York litigator Joshua Naftalis.
“A judge may just sort of say, ‘There’s a public interest in resolving this and sentencing him, and the answer is, I’m going to move forward on whatever schedule, but I’m not going to put him in jail,'” Naftalis said.
However, Trump is also arguing that sentencing can’t take place anytime soon, even if Merchan rules against tossing out the convictions. In a motion earlier this month, Trump argued Merchan would need to let him fully pursue an appeal to move the case out of Merchan’s hands and into a federal court before sentencing could take place.
More: ‘President-elect immunity does not exist.’ New York prosecutors defend Trump convictions
That’s another unprecedented argument for courts to address, at least when it comes to an ex-president and president-elect.
It all amounts to a lot of uncertainty about the fate of Trump’s hush money case.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What’s next in Trump’s New York criminal hush money case?
