Manhattan prosecutors reject attempts to derail Trump’s secret money conviction

Manhattan prosecutors urge judge to review Donald Trumpguilty hush money trial rejecting his attempts to derail his conviction and sentence.

But the district attorney Alvin Bragg Trump and his team reportedly asked the judge to continue delaying the trial so they could address arguments Trump might make to dismiss the case. a letter To New York Justice Juan Merchan on Tuesday.

Trump’s sentence was initially planned to be handed down next week, on November 26.

Prosecutors also postponed the case until 2029, “until the Defendant’s trial period ends.” upcoming presidential term.”

A jury found the former president guilty on May 30 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records

Last week Mercan agreed to postpone a decision on whether the case should be withdrawn on the grounds of “immunity” arising from a landmark Supreme Court decision that gave prosecutors a week to decide their next step.

Meanwhile, Trump nominated two chief defense attorneys If appointed to senior roles at the Department of Justice, they would be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the nation’s federal law enforcement agencies.

Todd Blanche was nominated for deputy attorney general, the second-highest position in the Department of Justice, while Emil Bove was named chief deputy attorney general. While Blanche awaits confirmation in the Senate, he could serve as deputy attorney general.

If confirmed, Blanche could serve as deputy attorney general for far-right Trump ally Matt Gaetz, who Trump has nominated for attorney general; It’s a role Trump is likely to view as a tool to target judges and prosecutors who are overseeing the multitude of cases filed against him. former president.

The lawyer who won Trump his biggest court victory ever — D. John Sauer, who argued before federal appellate judges and the Supreme Court to shield Trump from criminal prosecution, derailing Trump’s federal election interference case and hush money convictions — was rewarded with: The role of the attorney general.

On May 30, a jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records in connection with a plot to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose story about having sex with Trump threatened to derail the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 for the rights to his story; Trump repaid Cohen with a series of payments, including checks signed from the White House in the first months of his presidency, the true nature of which was concealed in the Trump Organization’s accounting records.

These refunds were incorrectly recorded as “legal expenses” in the accounting records.

Trump, whose campaigns have relied on rhetoric of political persecution and revenge against a justice system he accuses of conspiring against him, continues to insist he has done nothing wrong.

The Supreme Court’s decision partially protects Trump and other presidents from criminal prosecution for actions deemed “official” duties while in office and provides a presumption of “immunity” for actions within the “outer bounds” of those “official” duties.

According to the Supreme Court, there is no immunity, presumptive or otherwise, for a president’s “unofficial” actions.

Hours after the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision, Trump’s lawyers argued in a 50-page filing in Manhattan criminal court that much of the evidence used against him at the trial fell within the scope of the high court’s decision.

This “impermissible evidence of official acts” includes Trump’s conversations with a White House aide, phone records from his time in office, and his posts on Twitter, “recognized as an official channel of White House communications in the Trump Administration.” Trump’s lawyers.

Blanche wrote: “No President of the United States has ever been treated more unfairly and unlawfully than District Attorney Bragg has acted against President Trump in connection with the biased investigation, extraordinarily delayed charging decision, and unfounded investigation that led to this motion. ” time.

“Rather than wait for guidance from the Supreme Court, prosecutors arrogantly mocked President Trump’s request for immunity” and “insisted on rushing the trial” before the Supreme Court’s decision.

Blanche argued that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had forced the court to “bring the Supreme Court to the forefront on a federal constitutional issue that has serious consequences for the operation of the federal government and the relations between state and federal authorities.”

“The record is clear: (the district attorney) was wrong, very wrong,” Blanche added.

In response, Manhattan prosecutors asked the judge to keep the verdict in place, arguing that the Supreme Court’s decision had “no basis to overturn the jury verdict.”

They argued that Trump was a private citizen when he hatched a plan with Cohen to pay Daniels.

“In all the pages defendant devotes to his current motion, the evidence he claims was influenced by the Supreme Court’s decision constitutes only a fraction of the mountains of testimony and documentary evidence that the jury considered in finding him guilty of 34 felonies. Beyond a reasonable doubt,” Deputy District Attorney Matthew Colangelo wrote in a filing this summer.