Team Trump Slams New York Judge Over Sentencing Decision: ‘Constitution Demands’ Case Be ‘Immediately Dismissed’

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Steven Cheung, Donald Trump’s spokesman, lashed out at New York Judge Juan Merchan Friday evening after he ordered the president-elect to show up next week to a sentencing hearing in his criminal hush money case.

Cheung accused Merchan of continuing a “witch hunt” against Trump and referred to the case in Manhattan against his boss as a hoax. He told Fox News:

Today’s order by the deeply conflicted, Acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s Immunity decision and other longstanding jurisprudence.

This lawless case should have never been brought and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed. President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process and to execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts.”

Cheung concluded, “There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead.”

Merchan vowed not to impose a prison sentence on Trump Friday but declined to toss the case. He offered him the option to attend a Jan. 10 hearing virtually or in person.

Trump was found guilty last May of 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to payments made on his behalf by his former attorney Michael Cohen. Cohen allegedly paid former adult film star Stormy Daniels to remain quiet about an affair she has said she had with Trump.

NBC News reported that Merchan declined to vacate Trump’s guilty verdict in the case in a Friday filing, saying the justice system worked.

“Here, 12 jurors unanimously found Defendant guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records with the intent to defraud, which included an intent to commit or conceal a conspiracy to promote a presidential election by unlawful means,” the judge wrote.

Trump was originally supposed to be sentenced on Nov. 26, but Merchan delayed a hearing on the matter.

Later on CNN, law professor Ryan Goodman said Cheung’s claim about Supreme Court precedent is “not true.“