OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Following his conviction on 34 felony counts in his New York City hush money trial earlier this month, former President Donald Trump called on the Supreme Court to take action in anticipation of his July sentencing.
The Republican National Convention in Milwaukee begins four days before Trump’s sentencing in the New York case, which he complained about in a post on Truth Social. The GOP is expected to formally nominate Trump for president during this convention.
The former president also used the article to criticize Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), who initiated the accusations against him. He claimed it was unfair that these two “will make a decision which will determine the future of our Nation.”
“The United States Supreme Court MUST DECIDE!” Trump posted.
Trump was convicted last week after a jury of 12 New Yorkers found him guilty on all counts of falsifying business records to conceal alleged affairs during his 2016 campaign.
“He could face jail time, though first-time offenders on charges like Trump’s are rarely incarcerated. Bragg declined to say whether prosecutors will seek jail time for the former president, insisting prosecutors would speak through their court filings in coming weeks,” , The Hill reported.
“Trump is scheduled to be sentenced July 11. He has said he will appeal the guilty verdict, which would go to a higher New York court. The U.S. Supreme Court is already weighing a separate case in which the former president has argued he should be immune from prosecution over his actions after the 2020 election, when he tried to subvert the results,” the outlet added.
“If the conservative-majority court agrees with Trump on that case, many of his other pending criminal indictments could unwind. Even if the court does not go that far, its decision could delay actions in several of Trump’s cases beyond the November election,” The Hill continued.
A legal expert for CNN, meanwhile, has given special counsel Jack Smith some bad news regarding his classified documents case against Trump.
Following a three-page order by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in which she reprimanded Smith for his most recent filing, analyst Elie Honig said he believes Smith should be “very worried.”
In the same order, Cannon denied Trump’s request to have the case dismissed because the Presidential Records Act should protect him, but she also ripped Smith.
Even as she ruled against Trump’s motion, Cannon’s three-page order also revealed her displeasure over Smith’s characterization of her order, suggesting this may not be the last such battle in the historic prosecution of a former president and the presumptive GOP presidential candidate.
“Where does this leave the timeline of this case, Elie?” asked CNN host Brianna Keilar.
“Well, a mess, in short,” he responded. “No way that this case was gonna get tried before the election. And now, I think we have other pending issues.”
Honig noted that other legal experts have speculated that Smith might appeal to the 11th Circuit to seek Cannon’s removal from the case. The 11th Circuit has previously vacated two Trump-friendly rulings made by Cannon in this case. However, Honig believes that Cannon’s ruling has all but thwarted that possibility.
“I actually think what the judge did today forecloses that, makes it impossible to do that because the judge said, ‘Well, we’re gonna decide when the trial happens, and maybe it’s something that will go to the jury,’” Honig continued.
“You really can’t appeal that if you’re Jack Smith. And by the way, Brie, this is why I think Jack Smith is concerned with today’s ruling. Although he won in the sense that the court did not dismiss the charges, if I’m Jack Smith – and I think Smith feels the same way – I’m very worried about this defense going to a jury because it’s confusing, because it’s complicated, because it’s technical.
