U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday asked a New York state judge to dismiss the criminal case in which he was convicted in May on 34 felony counts involving hush money paid to a porn star in light of his victory in the November 5 U.S. presidential election.
In urging Justice Juan Merchan in Manhattan to vacate the guilty verdict and toss the charges, Trump's lawyers said having Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case hang over him after he takes office on January 20 would impede his ability to govern.
Donald Trump in New York court
(Video: Reuters)
At the outset of their 72-page motion, Trump's lawyers brought up Democratic President Joe Biden's decision on Sunday to pardon his son Hunter Biden, who was convicted on gun charges and pleaded guilty to tax violations.
Blanche and Bove said Biden's statement that his son had been selectively prosecuted was an "extraordinary condemnation" of his Justice Department.
Merchan last month delayed Trump's previously scheduled November 26 sentencing indefinitely to give him the chance to seek dismissal.
Prosecutors with Bragg's office supported delaying the sentencing to give Trump the chance to make his case for dismissal, though they said they would oppose that bid. The prosecutors have until next Monday to respond.
The judge has not indicated when he would rule on Trump's motion to dismiss, and has not set a new date for sentencing.
Bragg's office has suggested he defer all proceedings in the case until Trump, 78, leaves the White House in 2029.
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In their motion to dismiss, Trump's lawyers called that suggestion "ridiculous." They said that would mean sentencing would happen more than a decade after the investigation started in 2018.
In a decision made in early September, Merchan effectively granted Trump’s second request for a delay. The first took place following the trial's conclusion in May, when a New York jury convicted Trump on all charges.
Trump was charged in three additional state and federal criminal cases in 2023, one involving classified documents he kept after leaving office and two others involving his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
He pleaded not guilty in all three cases. The Justice Department moved to dismiss the two federal cases after Trump's election victory.