Trump wants hush money case tossed due to election win, points to Hunter Biden pardon
President-elect Donald Trump's New York criminal hush money case should be completely dismissed based on his November election victory, Trump argued in a court filing made public Tuesday.
Trump was convicted May 30 of falsifying business records to cover up paying porn star Stormy Daniels to stay quiet before the 2016 election about an alleged sexual encounter between the two of them. He was initially scheduled to be sentenced in July, but he has now gotten several sentencing dates wiped from the calendar as he tries to get his 34 felony convictions tossed out.
In his motion asking the New York criminal court to throw out both the convictions and his indictment, Trump said the Presidential Transition Act, which supports the presidential transition process, "demonstrates that immediate dismissal of this case is ... required."
Trump noted that the act requires the outgoing presidential administration to provide a classified summary of national security threats and major military or covert operations so the incoming administration can begin evaluating those issues.
The New York criminal proceedings "are interfering with that process and must therefore be terminated immediately," according to the filing.
Trump also argued the case should be dismissed based on a New York law that allows a court to throw out an indictment in the "furtherance of justice." The court is allowed to consider, for example, how dismissing an indictment would impact community safety or welfare.
It wouldn't be enough just to delay proceedings until after his next presidency is over because the ongoing case would create "unacceptable diversions and distractions from President Trump’s efforts to lead the Nation," Trump said.
Trump points to Hunter Biden pardon
Trump also cited President Joe Biden's comments when he pardoned his son, Hunter, on Sunday. The president said "raw politics" had infected the legal process for Hunter.
The pardon applied to Hunter's convictions on various gun and tax charges, and also shielded him from federal prosecution for any other crimes committed over a more than 10-year period.
"Since (Manhattan District Attorney Alvin) Bragg took office, he has engaged in 'precisely the type of political theater' that President Biden condemned," Trump said in the new filing.
The New York case would never have been brought if Trump had different political views and played a different role in national politics, Trump argued.
What comes next in the case?
Prosecutors must file their response to Trump's request by Dec. 9. They have already said they will oppose the motion, although they have also acknowledged "the demands and obligations of the presidency."
It's not clear if prosecutors will push for Trump to be sentenced before his Jan. 20 inauguration, try to argue the sentencing could go forward during Trump's presidency, or argue it shouldn't take place until Trump's next term ends. But they have already acknowledged pushing sentencing out more than four years is a possibility.
"Given the need to balance competing constitutional interests, consideration must be given to various non-dismissal options ... such as deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of (Trump's) upcoming presidential term," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said in a Nov. 19 court filing.
If Trump is ever sentenced in the case, Judge Juan Merchan could order the real estate mogul to spend several years in prison, but he also has the ability to impose no jail or prison time at all.
Even if Trump loses his motion to toss out the case based on his election, he could still get his convictions tossed out for another reason: Judge Merchan hasn't yet ruled on Trump's argument that the jury's guilty verdicts and the indictment itself must be vacated based on the Supreme Court's July 1 presidential immunity ruling.
The high court said evidence of various official presidential acts can't be used to prosecute a former president.
Trump is arguing that some of the evidence used to secure his indictment and convictions was improper under that ruling. For instance, he says testimony from his former White House communications director, Hope Hicks, about events during his first presidency should have been prohibited.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump asks for New York hush money case to be tossed based on election