Washington
Supreme Court shuts down long shot push to lift Trump’s gag order in hush-money case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday shut down a long-shot push from Missouri to remove a gag order in former President Donald Trump’s hush-money case and delay his sentencing in New York.
The Missouri attorney general went to the high court with the unusual request to sue New York after the justices granted Trump broad immunity from prosecution in a separate case filed in Washington.
The order states that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have allowed Republican Andrew Bailey to file the suit, though not grant his push to quickly lift the gag order and delay sentencing.
Bailey argued the New York gag order, which Missouri wanted stayed until after the election, wrongly limits what the GOP presidential nominee can say on the campaign trail around the country, and Trump’s eventual sentence could affect his ability to travel.
“The actions by New York have created constitutional harms that threaten to infringe the rights of Missouri’s voters and electors,” he wrote.
Bailey railed against the charges as politically motivated as he framed the issue as a conflict between two states. While the Supreme Court typically hears appeals, it can act as a trial court in state conflicts. Those disputes, though, typically deal with shared borders or rivers that cross state lines.
New York, meanwhile, said the limited gag order does allow Trump to talk about the issues important to voters, and the sentence may not affect his movement at all. Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James argued that appeals are moving through state courts and there’s no state-on-state conflict that would allow the Supreme Court to weigh in at this point.
“Allowing Missouri to file this suit for such relief against New York would permit an extraordinary and dangerous end-run around former President Trump’s ongoing state court proceedings,” she wrote.
Trump is under a gag order imposed at trial after prosecutors raised concerns about Trump’s habit of attacking people involved in his cases. It was modified after his conviction, though, to allow him to comment publicly about witnesses and jurors.
He remains barred from disclosing the identities or addresses of individual jurors, and from commenting about court staffers, the prosecution team and their families until he is sentenced.
His sentencing has been delayed until at least September.
Trump was convicted in Manhattan on 34 counts of falsifying business records arising from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. She says she had a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier, which he denies.
The charge is punishable by up to four years behind bars, though it’s not clear whether prosecutors will seek prison time. Incarceration would be a rare punishment for a first-time offender convicted of Trump’s charges, legal experts have noted. Other potential sentences include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge requiring Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment.
Trump is also trying to have the conviction overturned, pointing to the July Supreme Court ruling that gave him broad immunity from prosecution as a former president. That finding all but ended the possibility that he could face trial on election interference charges in Washington before the election.
The high court has rejected other similar suits framed as a conflict between states in recent years, including over the 2020 election results.
New York
Judge in Trump’s hush money case delays date for ruling on presidential immunity
NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial is pushing back a date for a key ruling on presidential immunity until two days before Trump’s scheduled sentencing.
The immunity decision had been due Sept. 6, with the sentencing set for Sept. 18. But then Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Juan M. Merchan last week to rule first on their renewed bid to get the judge to step aside from the case.
In a letter made public Tuesday, Judge Juan M. Merchan postponed the immunity ruling to Sept. 16 — if it’s still needed after he decides next week whether to recuse himself.
Merchan said the Republican presidential nominee is still due in court Sept. 18 for “the imposition of sentence or other proceedings as appropriate.”
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment.
A jury found Trump guilty in May of falsifying business records to conceal a deal to pay off porn actor Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. At the time, she was considering going public with a story of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.
Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels and was later reimbursed by Trump, whose company logged the repayment as legal expenses. Prosecutors said that was an effort to disguise the true nature of the transactions and the underlying hush money deal.
Trump denies Daniels’ claim, maintains he did nothing wrong and says the case is politically motivated. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is a Democrat.
Trump’s lawyers say the Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity warrants overturning the May guilty verdict and entirely dismissing the hush money case against Trump. The defense also contends that the trial was “tainted” by evidence that should not have been allowed under the high court’s ruling, such as testimony from some Trump White House staffers and tweets he sent while president in 2018.
The high court’s ruling curbs prosecutions of ex-presidents for official acts and restricts prosecutors in pointing to official acts as evidence that a commander in chief’s unofficial actions were illegal.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office maintains that the high court’s opinion “has no bearing” on the hush money case because it involves unofficial acts for which the former president is not immune.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers asked Merchan last week, for a third time, to exit the case, saying his daughter’s work for Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign underscores questions about his ability to be impartial. Harris is now the Democratic
nominee for president.
Merchan rejected two prior recusal requests last year, saying the defense’s concerns were “hypothetical” and based on “innuendos” and “unsupported speculation.”
But Trump lawyer Todd Blanche argued that Harris’ entry into the presidential race makes those issues “even more concrete” and said the judge hadn’t addressed them in enough detail.
The hush money case is one of four criminal prosecutions brought against Trump last year.
Supreme Court shuts down long shot push to lift Trump’s gag order in hush-money case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday shut down a long-shot push from Missouri to remove a gag order in former President Donald Trump’s hush-money case and delay his sentencing in New York.
The Missouri attorney general went to the high court with the unusual request to sue New York after the justices granted Trump broad immunity from prosecution in a separate case filed in Washington.
The order states that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have allowed Republican Andrew Bailey to file the suit, though not grant his push to quickly lift the gag order and delay sentencing.
Bailey argued the New York gag order, which Missouri wanted stayed until after the election, wrongly limits what the GOP presidential nominee can say on the campaign trail around the country, and Trump’s eventual sentence could affect his ability to travel.
“The actions by New York have created constitutional harms that threaten to infringe the rights of Missouri’s voters and electors,” he wrote.
Bailey railed against the charges as politically motivated as he framed the issue as a conflict between two states. While the Supreme Court typically hears appeals, it can act as a trial court in state conflicts. Those disputes, though, typically deal with shared borders or rivers that cross state lines.
New York, meanwhile, said the limited gag order does allow Trump to talk about the issues important to voters, and the sentence may not affect his movement at all. Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James argued that appeals are moving through state courts and there’s no state-on-state conflict that would allow the Supreme Court to weigh in at this point.
“Allowing Missouri to file this suit for such relief against New York would permit an extraordinary and dangerous end-run around former President Trump’s ongoing state court proceedings,” she wrote.
Trump is under a gag order imposed at trial after prosecutors raised concerns about Trump’s habit of attacking people involved in his cases. It was modified after his conviction, though, to allow him to comment publicly about witnesses and jurors.
He remains barred from disclosing the identities or addresses of individual jurors, and from commenting about court staffers, the prosecution team and their families until he is sentenced.
His sentencing has been delayed until at least September.
Trump was convicted in Manhattan on 34 counts of falsifying business records arising from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. She says she had a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier, which he denies.
The charge is punishable by up to four years behind bars, though it’s not clear whether prosecutors will seek prison time. Incarceration would be a rare punishment for a first-time offender convicted of Trump’s charges, legal experts have noted. Other potential sentences include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge requiring Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment.
Trump is also trying to have the conviction overturned, pointing to the July Supreme Court ruling that gave him broad immunity from prosecution as a former president. That finding all but ended the possibility that he could face trial on election interference charges in Washington before the election.
The high court has rejected other similar suits framed as a conflict between states in recent years, including over the 2020 election results.
New York
Judge in Trump’s hush money case delays date for ruling on presidential immunity
NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial is pushing back a date for a key ruling on presidential immunity until two days before Trump’s scheduled sentencing.
The immunity decision had been due Sept. 6, with the sentencing set for Sept. 18. But then Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Juan M. Merchan last week to rule first on their renewed bid to get the judge to step aside from the case.
In a letter made public Tuesday, Judge Juan M. Merchan postponed the immunity ruling to Sept. 16 — if it’s still needed after he decides next week whether to recuse himself.
Merchan said the Republican presidential nominee is still due in court Sept. 18 for “the imposition of sentence or other proceedings as appropriate.”
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment.
A jury found Trump guilty in May of falsifying business records to conceal a deal to pay off porn actor Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. At the time, she was considering going public with a story of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.
Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels and was later reimbursed by Trump, whose company logged the repayment as legal expenses. Prosecutors said that was an effort to disguise the true nature of the transactions and the underlying hush money deal.
Trump denies Daniels’ claim, maintains he did nothing wrong and says the case is politically motivated. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is a Democrat.
Trump’s lawyers say the Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity warrants overturning the May guilty verdict and entirely dismissing the hush money case against Trump. The defense also contends that the trial was “tainted” by evidence that should not have been allowed under the high court’s ruling, such as testimony from some Trump White House staffers and tweets he sent while president in 2018.
The high court’s ruling curbs prosecutions of ex-presidents for official acts and restricts prosecutors in pointing to official acts as evidence that a commander in chief’s unofficial actions were illegal.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office maintains that the high court’s opinion “has no bearing” on the hush money case because it involves unofficial acts for which the former president is not immune.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers asked Merchan last week, for a third time, to exit the case, saying his daughter’s work for Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign underscores questions about his ability to be impartial. Harris is now the Democratic
nominee for president.
Merchan rejected two prior recusal requests last year, saying the defense’s concerns were “hypothetical” and based on “innuendos” and “unsupported speculation.”
But Trump lawyer Todd Blanche argued that Harris’ entry into the presidential race makes those issues “even more concrete” and said the judge hadn’t addressed them in enough detail.
The hush money case is one of four criminal prosecutions brought against Trump last year.
