Borrowing the terms used by the outgoing US president to pardon his son Hunter, the president-elect’s lawyers claimed that their client was the victim of “political theater”.
Donald Trump invoked the pardon granted by the American president Joe Biden to his son Hunter in an attempt to have his money laundering conviction overturned.
In a motion filed Monday and made public on Tuesday, President-elect Trump’s lawyers asked Manhattan Judge Juan M Merchan to immediately dismiss the case, saying it was politically motivated.
They argued that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted Mr. Trump, was “guilty.”precisely the type of political theater” that Mr. Biden condemned when he exonerated his son of his federal gun and tax convictions.
In a statement on Sunday to explain his use of presidential pardon, the outgoing president said his son had only been prosecuted because he was his son. “The accusations against him only emerged after several of my political opponents in Congress launched them to attack me and oppose my election”he said.
Echoing that language, Mr. Trump’s defense team said their client had also been targeted by the money laundering trial for political reasons.
Last May, Donald Trump became the first ex-president of the United States to be convicted of a crime when he was found guilty of 34 counts for falsifying business records to conceal a payment of $130,000 (123,750 euros) to Stormy Daniels, a pornographic actress who claims the couple had sex ten years earlier. The money was allegedly sent to buy his silence in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Following Mr. Trump’s decisive victory in last month’s presidential vote, Mr. Merchan, the judge overseeing the bribery case, postponed sentencingwhich was to take place at the end of November.
Prosecutors have indicated they are prepared to have sentencing delayed until the end of Mr. Trump’s second presidential term, in 2029.
However, in the motion they filed this week, Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that continuing the case would create “disturbances in the institution of the presidency”.
They also said that exonerating him would allow him to “devote all his energy to the protection of the nation”.
The prosecution has until Monday to respond to this request.
In the lead-up to the November 5 election, the president-elect faced multiple criminal cases. Since his victory, his legal troubles have begun to dissipate.
Last week, special prosecutor Jack Smith announced he was dropping two cases against Mr. Trump, citing Justice Department guidelines that grant sitting presidents immunity while in office.
The first case concerned alleged interference in the 2020 election, while the second concerned the alleged accumulation of classified documents.
Following Mr. Biden’s decision to pardon his son on Sunday, some Democrats have expressed concern that the move could play into Mr. Trump’s hands, as they believe it will now be more difficult for them to oppose the legal actions of the new president.