error occurred regarding the introduction of the challenged evidence, such error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt,” Merchan wrote in the 41-page ruling.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche on Monday asked Merchan to postpone sentencing the president-elect in the case until all appeals are exhausted.
Trump became the first former president convicted of a crime when in May he was found guilty of the charges in Manhattan Supreme Court — a state-level trial court.
The falsified records related to a $130,000 payment that Trump’s then-personal lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election. Cohen, who later was reimbursed by Trump, has said the payment was in exchange for Daniels’ agreement to keep quiet about a purported one-time sexual tryst with Trump a decade earlier.
Trump has denied having sex with Daniels.
The payment occurred before Trump was first elected president. But some evidence at trial was connected to Trump’s tenure in the White House.
Trump’s transition spokesman Steven Cheung, in a statement obtained by NBC News, said, “Today’s decision by deeply conflicted, acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity, and other longstanding jurisprudence.”
“This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed, as President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process, and execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this, or any other, Witch Hunt,” Cheung said.
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