Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump have requested the dismissal of his conviction for falsifying business records, citing President Joe Biden’s recent comments while pardoning his son, Hunter Biden.
The 72-page motion to dismiss, filed in New York on Tuesday, argues that Biden’s statements undermine the fairness of Trump’s prosecution, calling it politically motivated. The legal filing quotes Biden’s remarks from his announcement of a 10-year pardon for Hunter Biden, covering all crimes charged or uncharged.
“As President Biden put it yesterday, ‘Enough is enough,’” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “This case, which should never have been brought, must now be dismissed.”
Biden condemned the treatment of his son in a statement Sunday evening, asserting that Hunter had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” and that “raw politics has infected this process.” Trump’s lawyers suggested that Biden’s remarks apply equally to Trump’s New York case, which they called a “miscarriage of justice.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat whose office prosecuted Trump for falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election, was accused in the lengthy filing of conducting “precisely the type of political theater” Biden denounced.
Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts, though Judge Juan Merchan indefinitely postponed sentencing on Nov. 22, citing Trump’s election victory and continued arguments about presidential immunity.
Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, argue that Trump’s conviction should be dismissed under the doctrine of presidential immunity, which protects the president from criminal prosecution while in office. They contend that Bragg’s actions disrupt the federal government’s functioning and threaten the balance of power between federal and state authorities.
“This case is based on a contrived, defective, and unprecedented legal theory,” the filing reads, adding that the charges stem from entries made in documents “hundreds of miles away from the White House” during Trump’s presidency.
The defense lawyers, who have been named to top Justice Department positions in the upcoming administration, further criticized the prosecution’s suggestion that proceedings could resume after Trump leaves office, calling it a “ridiculous” proposal that violates constitutional protections.
The filing also takes aim at the DOJ under Biden, which has dropped two prosecutions against Trump since his reelection. It accuses the department of orchestrating “politically-motivated, election-interference witch hunts.”
In addition to citing presidential immunity, Trump’s legal team argues that the case should be dismissed in the “interests of justice.” The prosecution, they say, risks imposing “enduring consequences upon the balanced power structure of our republic” and contributes to “factional strife,” echoing Biden’s own calls for unity during his pardon announcement.
Trump has likewise maintained that the Supreme Court’s decision on July 1, which found former presidents are generally immune from official acts, should lead to a dismissal of the case, contending that the prosecution relied on testimony from Trump’s first term as president to inform the jury during the trial.
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The motion to dismiss filing could mark one of the last actions in the legal saga surrounding the only one of four criminal indictments against Trump that ever made it to a trial before his reelection.
Trump’s lawyers have asked Merchan to dismiss the indictment or, alternatively, grant a two-week stay to allow Trump to seek federal injunctive relief. Bragg’s office has until Dec. 9 to respond.
