The AP agency described Merchan’s announced decision as extraordinary. According to him, Trump will have to go to court, in person or via video call, just ten days before his inauguration for the start of his second term in the White House. It is scheduled to take place on January 20.
The Republican politician is the first ex-president of the United States to be found guilty of a crime, and no former head of state was prosecuted before him.
A New York jury in late May found Trump guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a payment to porn actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, just before the 2016 election. Trump’s lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 (almost 3.2 million CZK) in order not to go public with a statement about the romance from the year 2006, which Trump still denies. According to the indictment, Trump falsified checks and other documents when returning money to Cohen after his election in 2017 in an effort to keep the deal secret.
Trump denies any wrongdoing and in recent months has called on Judge Merchan to overturn the jury’s guilty verdict. He argued the July decision of the Supreme Court, which stated that former presidents are entitled to broad immunity related to acts performed in office. He also claimed that the continuation of the trial would interfere with the performance of the presidential function.
Merchan rejected this argument at the end of last year. Trump was threatened with up to four years in prison in the case, but such an outcome was never considered likely. Now the judge has indicated that he will seek the “unconditional release” of the convict.
Trump’s opponents are cheering. On the day of his inauguration, flags will still be at half-mast due to the death of Jimmy Carter
Foreign
