NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s lawyers are begging a New York judge to overturn his decision silence sentence for money and close the case, arguing that his landmark judgment was “tainted” by evidence that should not have been allowed because of the The Supreme Court’s Recent Ruling on Presidential Immunity.
In a court filing made public on Thursday, the former president’s lawyers expanded on their view that Manhattan prosecutors rushed hastily and unfairly to try Trump while the high court was still considering his immunity claims.
“Rather than wait for guidance from the Supreme Court, prosecutors arrogantly mocked President Trump’s immunity motions and insisted on rushing to trial,” wrote Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove. They urged Judge Juan M. Merchan “to address these injustices,” saying he was “obliged to do so in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling.”
Trump became the first former president convicted of a crime when a jury found him guilty in May of falsifying records to cover up a potential sex scandal.
Trump’s lawyers urged Merchan to throw out not only the jury’s verdict but also the indictment, which would prevent prosecutors from retrying the case.
Merchan said he will rule on the defense requests on September 6 and convict Trump on September 18, “if that is still necessary.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has until July 24 to respond to the defense request and declined to comment Thursday.
The Supreme Court’s July 1 immunity ruling granted broad protections to presidents and insulated them from being prosecuted for official acts. It also restricted prosecutors from citing any official acts as evidence in an attempt to prove that a president’s unofficial actions violated the law.
The Federal Supreme Court has not defined what constitutes an official act, leaving that to the lower courts.
Hours after the opinion was released, Trump’s lawyers wrote a letter asking Merchan to overturn the verdict and postpone Trump’s sentencing, which was scheduled for Thursday.
Trump’s trial began on April 15. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the immunity case 10 days later.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records stemming from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a secret $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump denies this, saying in his June 27 debate with President Joe Biden, “I did not have sex with a porn star.”
He has promised to appeal his conviction but will not be able to do so until he is sentenced.
Prosecutors said Daniels’ payment was part of a broader scheme to buy the silence of people who might have publicly aired embarrassing stories during the campaign alleging that Trump had extramarital sex.
Trump denied any wrongdoing and said all the stories were false.
Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels and was later reimbursed by Trump. Prosecutors said Cohen — with Trump’s knowledge — disguised the refunds by submitting monthly invoices for retainer payments as Trump’s personal lawyer. Trump’s company recorded the payments to Cohen as legal expenses.
Trump’s lawyers argue that jurors should not have been allowed to hear about matters including his conversations with then-White House communications director Hope Hicks or another aide’s testimony about his work practices.
Blanche and Bove also pointed to prosecutors’ use of Trump’s 2018 financial disclosure report, which he was required as president to produce for public release. A footnote on the form mentioned that Trump reimbursed Cohen in 2017 for unspecified expenses the previous year.
The defense wrote that prosecutors attempted to “attribute a criminal motive” to some actions Trump took while in office — arguing, for example, that some of his 2018 tweets were part of a “pressure campaign” to prevent Cohen from turned against him.
The Supreme Court’s decision “prevents the investigation of these reasons”, argued the defense.
Jurors were shown several of Trump’s 2018 tweets about Cohen, which prosecutors portrayed as efforts to pressure Cohen not to cooperate with authorities and then punish him when he did.
In Thursday’s filing, Trump’s lawyers responded that the tweets were “communications with the American people on matters of public interest that affect President Trump’s credibility as commander in chief.”
The question of what jurors are entitled to hear about a president’s conduct has divided even the conservative members of the Supreme Court responsible for the majority opinion.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in a separate concurrence, wrote that the Constitution does not require juries to be blind “to the circumstances surrounding conduct for which presidents can be held responsible” and suggested that it would needlessly “paralyze” a prosecutor’s case. exclude from the trial “any mention of the official act” in question.
Trump’s lawyers had previously invoked presidential immunity in a failed attempt last year to move the hush money case from state court to federal court.
US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trump’s claim that the allegations in the silence charge involved official duties, writing in July 2023: “The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal item for the President – a cover-up of an embarrassing event.”
Trump’s lawyers later tried to delay the silent trial until the Supreme Court ruled on his immunity request. Merchan denied the request, declaring it untimely because it occurred well after the deadline for pretrial motions.
Trump’s lawyers never increased presidential immunity as a defense in the silent trial, but they tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent prosecutors from showing the jury evidence of his mandate.
The ongoing fight for immunity and the resulting delay in sentencing have spared Trump the harm of potential prison time, probation, fines or other punishments just days before he accepts the Republican nomination for president at the party’s convention next week in Milwaukee.
The delay averted Trump’s possible split-screen conviction as Democrats continued to debate President Joe Biden’s viability as a re-election candidate following his dismal debate performance last month.
Falsifying business records is punishable by up to four years in prison. Other potential sentences include probation, a fine or a conditional discharge that would require Trump to stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment.
If Trump were sentenced to jail or prison, he could remain free while he appeals. Because it is a state case, Trump would not be able to pardon himself if he were elected president again. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes.
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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
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