When I wrote on Judge Juan Merchan’s ruling regarding the presidential immunity issue in relation to the Manhattan criminal trial against President-elect Donald Trump over falsified business records, I began with: “We knew the ruling would be coming at some point.”
In similar fashion, I can add: We knew the response from Trump would be swift — and likely sharp. And so it is. The president-elect took to Truth Social Tuesday morning to let his thoughts on the ruling be known, and zero punches were pulled:
BREAKING: Judge Merchan Rules on Trump’s Bid to Have Case Dismissed Due to Presidential Immunity
Trump’s Legal Team Requests Dismissal of Manhattan Case on New Grounds
In a two-parter Truth, Trump said:
BREAKING: In a completely illegal, psychotic order, the deeply conflicted, corrupt, biased, and incompetent Acting Justice Juan Merchan has completely disrespected the United States Supreme Court, and its Historic Decision on Immunity. But even without Immunity, this illegitimate case is nothing but a Rigged Hoax. Merchan, who is a radical partisan, wrote an opinion that is knowingly unlawful, goes against our Constitution, and, if allowed to stand, would be the end of the Presidency as we know it. Merchan has so little respect for the Constitution that he is keeping in place an illegal gag order on me, your President and President-Elect, just so I cannot expose his and his family’s disqualifying and illegal conflicts….
….I am the only Political Opponent in American History not allowed to defend myself – A despicable First Amendment Violation! Merchan took the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt, that, according to all Legal Scholars, including Jonathan Turley, Elie Honig, Andy McCarthy, Alan Dershowitz, Gregg Jarrett, David Rivkin, Elizabeth Price Foley, Katie and Andy Cherkasky, Paul Ingrassia, and many others, is a nonexistent case, barred by the Statute of Limitations, and should have never been brought and, through his fraud and misconduct, gave it a semblance of “life.” While Deranged Jack Smith was sent packing back to The Hague after losing all of his politically manufactured cases against me, Merchan, who is far worse and even more corrupt than Smith in his fight for my hopeless political opponents, just cannot let go of this charade. Is it because of his conflicts and relations that he keeps breaking the Law? This has to stop! It is time to end the Lawfare once and for all, so we can come together as one Nation and, Make America Great Again.
Safe to say Trump will be appealing Merchan’s ruling — and neither will be receiving a Christmas card from the other.
Trump references George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley in his response. Turley shared some insight on the ruling on X Monday evening, pointing out that there still remains outstanding not only the ruling on the motion to set aside the verdict in light of Trump’s reelection but also the substantive ruling on the challenge to the verdict based on errors made at trial.
…He still has to rule on the general challenge over errors committed at trial. Some of us view the case as replete with layers of reversible error. https://t.co/o4ZJdNwfb7 However, Merchan was never viewed as likely to second guess his prior rulings…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) December 17, 2024
As Turley rightly notes, the trial itself was “replete with layers of reversible error.” However, the likelihood of Merchan reversing himself on any of them sits somewhere between slim and none. Nor can we expect, given his ruling on the immunity issue, that Merchan will determine that Trump’s reelection warrants the dismissal of the matter.
There’s something else that Turley notes that bears acknowledging: This ruling by Merchan drives a stake in the heart of the argument that the Supreme Court’s ruling afforded Trump (or any president) “absolute immunity.”
…While there are good-faith arguments for appeal, many judges would agree with the outcome. It shows that the Supreme Court was more balanced and nuanced than claimed. Merchan found multiple grounds for rejecting immunity under Trump v. United States. https://t.co/jEKfKId6qn
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) December 17, 2024
…Notably, the decision shatters the widespread claim of many on the left that the Supreme Court created absolute immunity. In this opinion, the court found multiple and independent grounds for placing conduct outside of the parameters created by the court…
…While there are good-faith arguments for appeal, many judges would agree with the outcome. It shows that the Supreme Court was more balanced and nuanced than claimed. Merchan found multiple grounds for rejecting immunity under Trump v. United States.
Realistically, it will be years before all of this is sorted out by the appellate courts. In the meantime, Judge Merchan appears content to allow the 47th President of the United States to twist in the wind over allegedly miscategorizing payments made to his former lawyer as legal expenses. Nearly eight years ago.
