'He's making this up': Legal experts dismiss Trump's effort to dodge sentencing
Legal analysts dismissed a filing by Donald Trump Monday demanding that his Friday, Jan. 10 sentencing be stayed because his presidency has yet to begin.
Speaking to MSNBC, legal analyst Lisa Rubin said that because the U.S. Supreme Court's immunity decision was made over the summer, Trump believes he is entitled to a decision on his immunity in the New York conviction before sentencing.
"If the Supreme Court is willing to say you have to resolve whether someone is entitled to immunity before trial, doesn't that necessarily mean that if the case has already progressed beyond trial and to a point it could be sentenced, it would also be unlawful to progress to sentencing before resulting immunity? The argument is a different one," Rubin said.
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None of the charges that Trump was convicted of — which involved paying a woman to keep quiet about a sexual encounter so that voters in 2016 didn't find out about it — happened while Trump was president.
But Rubin said Trump is arguing that, as president-elect, he enjoys the same immunity and pause as presidents.
She also pointed out that Trump's lawyers gave Judge Juan Merchan a deadline, saying they would seek an appeal if he didn't respond by 2 p.m. on Monday.
Former impeachment lawyer Norm Eisen posted on X that this is easy for Merchan and any appeals court to decide just by examining the law.
"Pres immunity doesn't apply to Trump's conviction for 2016 election interference and its coverup because immunity only applies to official acts," said Eisen, saying that Trump's immunity is not absolute.
"Trump did the wrongdoing either before he was president or by falsifying personal business records. Neither is immune," Eisen continued.
"Second, Trump also argues he has 'sitting-President immunity' — but he’s not yet the sitting president," wrote Eisen. "His claim that sitting-pres immunity extends into the transitional period while he is 'President-elect' is nonsense. There's no such doctrine in American law. He's making this up."
The filing also targets Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, with whom the incoming president still has a beef.
Eisen recalled, "I was there in court for every moment of his testimony. He told the truth, and the jury believed him."
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