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Donald Trump’s lawyers have formally asked a judge to throw out his hush money criminal conviction in light of his victory in the presidential election.
In a filing made public on Tuesday, local time, the president-elect’s lawyers said a dismissal is warranted because of the “overwhelming national mandate granted to him by the American people”.
They argued that continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the presidency”.
The lawyers also cited President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of federal tax and gun charges.
“President Biden asserted that his son was ‘selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted’, and ‘treated differently’,” Trump’s legal team told Manhattan Judge Juan M Merchan.
They alleged the Manhattan district attorney had engaged in the type of political theatre “President Biden condemned”.
Prosecutors have until December 9 to respond.
They said they will fight to prevent the case from being dismissed but have indicated they’re willing to delay sentencing until after Trump’s second term ends in 2029.
In their filing on Monday, Trump’s lawyers said the idea of holding off sentencing for so long is a “ridiculous suggestion”.
Justice Merchan halted case proceedings and indefinitely postponed sentencing, which had previously been scheduled for late November, after Trump was re-elected last month, giving the defence and prosecution a chance to weigh in on the future of the case.
He also delayed a decision on Trump’s previous bid to have the case dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity.
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Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim they had sex a decade earlier.
He says they did not and denies any wrongdoing.
The filing argues that dismissing the case would also benefit the public by giving him and “the numerous prosecutors assigned to this case a renewed opportunity to put an end to deteriorating conditions” in New York City and to “protect its residents from violent crime”.
The lawyers added that clearing Trump would also allow him to “devote all of his energy to protecting” the US.
The defence filing was signed by Todd Balance and Emil Bove, who both represented the former president during the trial and have since been selected to fill senior roles at the Department of Justice.
Dismissing the case would erase Trump’s conviction and spare him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence.
He is the first former president to have been convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.
Trump will be sworn in on January 20, 2025.
Justice Merchan hasn’t set any deadlines for a decision.
He could decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Trump leaves office, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s effort to have the case moved out of state court, or choose another option entirely.
Prosecutors argued the payout made to Daniels was part of an effort by Trump to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him.
His lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels, for which Trump later reimbursed him.
Trump’s company then logged the reimbursements as legal expenses to conceal what they really were.
The president-elect has pledged to appeal the verdict if the case is not dismissed.
He and his lawyers argued the payments to Cohen were properly categorised as legal expenses for legal work.
Donald Trump denies any wrongdoing in the case. (Reuters: Win McNamee/Pool)
A month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents couldn’t be prosecuted for things they did in the course of running the country, and that prosecutors couldn’t cite those actions to bolster cases centred on personal, unofficial conduct.
Trump’s lawyers cited the ruling to argue the hush-money jury was given some improper evidence, such as his presidential financial disclosure form, testimony from some White House aides, and social media posts he made during his first term.
Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case.
If the verdict stands and the case proceeds to sentencing, punishments could range from a fine to up to four years in prison.
But it’s unlikely he will spend any time behind bars for a first-time conviction involving charges in the lowest tier of felonies.
Trump will not be able to pardon himself when he returns to office.
Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes and, according to the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, presidents cannot pardon themselves.
ABC/AP