NY judge upholds Trump hush money conviction despite Supreme Court's immunity ruling

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

48% : "The sooner these hoaxes end, the sooner our country can unite behind President Trump for the betterment of all Americans.
40% : Trump and his lawyers had asked Merchan to set aside his hush money trial conviction on the basis of the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity last summer.
36% : If Merchan's ruling is upheld, Trump will make history on January 20, 2025, as the first criminal felon to occupy the White House and serve as president.
34% : In his ruling, Merchan sided with prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office who said that while the U.S. Supreme Court granted presidents wide latitude in having immunity for presidential actions, the activities for which Trump was convicted were unofficial - not official - conduct.
34% : "Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement soon after Merchan's ruling that didn't specifically say he would appeal the ruling - but that he would continue to fight what he described as a political "witch hunt" that was in 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.
25% : But the ruling was seen as a potentially even bigger gift to Trump because one portion of it, which deals with trial evidence, raised questions about the criminal trial Trump already lost.
23% : The judge's decision shoots down only one of several efforts by Trump to wipe clean his record of the criminal felonies before he returns to the White House on Jan. 20.
23% : Merchan wrote in his 41-page ruling that the actions Trump took for which he was convicted were "decidedly personal acts" including falsifying business records that posed "no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch," including Trump's actions as president.
21% : Trump was convicted in Manhattan on May 30 of 34 counts of falsifying business records in order to conceal a conspiracy to unlawfully interfere in the 2016 presidential election through a scheme involving hush money paid to Daniels.
20% : Separately, Trump has asked Judge Juan Merchan to dismiss the entire New York criminal case as a result of his November election victory.
7% : Those "unofficial" actions included steps Trump took to falsify records related to payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who was threatening to go public with claims of having had affairs with Trump just before the 2016 election, Merchan concluded.

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