Trump Seeks to Toss NY Felony Conviction After Immunity Win

Donald Trump has asked the judge in his “hush money” case to throw out his convictions after a Supreme Court ruling that granted him protection from prosecution for official actions he took as president.

On Monday, lawyers for the former president asked Judge Juan Merchan to set aside Trump’s 34 convictions and delay his sentencing, which is scheduled for later this month. 

According to the reports, they have also requested to delay his July 11 sentencing to allow time for a briefing and arguments. As first reported by The New York Times, in a letter to Judge Merchan, the lawyers of the US former president have argued that the Supreme Court’s decision confirmed a position that the defence raised earlier in that federal case that prosecutors should have been precluded from introducing some evidence they said constituted official presidential acts.

In prior court filings, Trump contended he was immune from prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. His lawyer argued that some evidence, including the social media post about former lawyer Michael Cohen, comes from his time as president and should have been excluded from the trial because of immunity protection.

The Case 

Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to reimburse his previous attorney, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, when her claim to have had sex with him could have proved fatal to his campaign against Hillary Clinton.

Donald Trump becomes the first ever former US president convicted of a crime after a New York jury found him guilty of a “hush money” crime. Reportedly, he was found guilty of illegally influencing the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor.  

Furthermore, Trump was directed by a federal grand jury on June 8, 2023, and July 27, 2023, on 32 counts of willful retention of national defence information and other charges related to classified documents he took from the White House. 

Trump, however, claimed that he was innocent and that the “real verdict” would come from his voters. 

Meanwhile, the trial court had set the date for sentencing as July 11, days after the Republicans were scheduled to choose him as the 2024 nominee.

Prosecutors alleged that hush money and the illegal covering up of the payment were part of a broader crime to prevent voters from knowing about Trump’s behaviour.