To the surprise of no one, Judge Juan Merchan has yet again denied former President Donald Trump’s motion that the judge recuse himself.
I am speaking, of course, about the case in which Manhattan’s elected progressive Democratic District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, is prosecuting Mr Trump. In early June, a jury found the former President and current GOP presidential nominee guilty on 34 counts of business-records falsification.
It is not just that Judge Merchan had previously denied the recusal motion. The judge has signalled that, come hell or high water, he intends to sentence Trump on September 18.
If you’re keeping score, that would be two days after early voting in the 2024 election begins in Pennsylvania.
The Trump defence team has been trying to stave off sentencing. And the lawyers have what, in a normal case, would be real ammunition.
Donald Trump at a campaign rally in North Carolina. Picture: Peter Zay/AFP
On July 1, the US Supreme Court held that presidents (including former presidents) are (a) presumptively immune from criminal prosecution for any official acts taken as president, and (b) absolutely immune if the official acts are core constitutional duties of the chief executive. The court instructed that this immunity extends not only to charges but to evidence. That means prosecutors are not just barred from alleging official presidential acts as crimes; they are further prohibited from even using such acts as proof offered to establish other crimes.
There is no denying that Mr Bragg’s prosecutors used some of Mr Trump’s official acts to prove their case. Indeed, they called as witnesses two of Mr Trump’s White House staffers.
Unsurprisingly then, Mr Trump’s lawyers moved post-trial to have the guilty verdicts thrown out based on the high court’s immunity ruling. Further, they again argued that Judge Merchan should recuse himself. On that score, they claimed the lucrative political work Judge Merchan’s daughter has done for Vice President Kamala Harris should be seen as more significant now that Ms Harris has replaced President Joe Biden as Mr Trump’s Democratic opponent in the upcoming election.
Judge Juan Merchan. Picture: Steven Hirsch/NY Post
On Tuesday, Judge Merchan denied the recusal motion. He had signalled his intention to do so in a letter to the parties last week. He also said he plans to rule on Mr Trump’s immunity claim by August 16. Most importantly, though, Judge Merchan admonished the parties to prepare for the court to move ahead with the imposition of sentence on September 18. He instructed the lawyers to submit promptly any arguments they intend to make on that subject.
If we may read the tea leaves, Judge Merchan has already decided that he will deny Mr Trump’s immunity motion. There is, moreover, a high likelihood that he will impose a prison sentence against Mr Trump right after that.
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