New York State Court "Validity of Trump document forgery conviction"

A state court has put a brake on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's claim that the conviction of "paying money to silence sex scandals" made before the presidential election was nullified by the Supreme Court's immunity decision.

Acting Judge Juan Merchant of Manhattan Criminal Court in New York has decided that a written forgery conviction handed down in May against Trump remains valid.

The court said the criminal prosecution against Trump was based on "clearly personal conduct, falsifying business records, and there is no risk of interfering with the authority and functioning of the administration."

Trump asked the Supreme Court to overturn the document forgery case, which was ruled guilty in May, following a Supreme Court ruling that "the president's official actions while in office are subject to immunity even after he leaves office," but prosecutors have argued that they cannot be exempted because it is a personal act.

The conviction holds Trump responsible for handing over $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for a sex scandal and making false entries in the company's books ahead of the 2016 presidential election.