Donald Trump had a rough day in court on Wednesday.
Two motions that Trump's defense team had filed to delay the case, as well as Trump's immunity, have both been denied.
Talking Points…
- Trump's motion for presidential immunity was denied
- Trump's motion for delay of trial was denied
- Analysis
Judge Juan Merchan will stick it to Trump in any way possible right now. Trump has been relentlessly attacking the judge and his daughter on Truth Social, so I have to think Merchan is getting great pleasure in denying motions that Trump is putting before him.
On Wednesday, Merchan ruled on the motion for presidential immunity, concentrating on the fact that Trump waited so long to make the motion rather than the claim's merits. Merchan stated that Trump had 45 days from the indictment to file this particular motion, but he chose to wait until well after the deadline had passed to do so. Merchan stated:
"Defendant's motion is DENIED in its entirety as untimely.
"The Court declines to consider whether the doctrine of presidential immunity precludes the introduction of evidence of purported official presidential acts in a criminal proceeding."
Trump does have one last hope on this matter, as he also has a case before the Supreme Court that will be held on April 25 for the same narrative. In that case, Trump claimed blanket immunity as president, but most legal experts believe he would also lose that motion.
Judge Merchan also denied a second motion made by Trump's defense team, this one to delay the case until the Supreme Court rules on whether Trump has presidential immunity or not. That case, as we noted above, is scheduled for oral arguments on April 25, with a decision on the matter expected in June (unless the court expedites its ruling).
Trump hoped to delay this case until the Supreme Court makes that ruling, but Merchan denied the motion. In his ruling, he wrote:
"This Court finds that Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity well before March 7, 2024."
Merchan pointed out that Trump made the presidential immunity claim on September 29, 2023, in the case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, so he questioned why Trump took so long to file the same motion for this case.
With Trump's motions being declined, this case will now start as scheduled on April 15, 2024. While I question whether Trump can win this case, I firmly believe that he will be victorious on appeal, even if he has to take the case to the Supreme Court.
Most legal experts who have commented on the case have suggested that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was overzealous in how he charged Trump, choosing to create nearly three dozen felony counts over ledger entries regarding the hush money paid during the 2016 campaign. Looking at similar cases that have been tried before, it is hard to believe that Trump will wind up with anything more than a fine and a slap across his knuckles once this entire process has played out.
