Former President Donald Trump’s legal team is challenging his recent hush money conviction, citing presidential immunity protections.
In a court filing made public on Thursday, July 11, 2024, Trump’s lawyers argued that Manhattan prosecutors unfairly relied on evidence related to Trump’s official acts while in office to secure his guilty verdict.
Defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove asserted that including evidence of Trump’s interactions with former aide Hope Hicks and his tweets during his presidency constituted a “structural error” under federal constitutional law.
They contended that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity, which prohibits criminal charges over official acts, invalidated the basis for Trump’s conviction.
Justice Juan Merchan delayed Trump’s sentencing by two months following the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision, which clarified that a president’s official actions cannot be used against them in cases involving private matters.
Trump’s legal team argued that this ruling nullified the Manhattan jury’s verdict.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office declined to comment on the filing, with prosecutors having until July 24 to respond.
Legal experts view Trump’s chances of overturning the hush money conviction as slim, given that much of the case pertains to actions predating his presidency, though evidence from his time in office was used to support claims of private misconduct.
The conviction stems from Trump’s involvement in falsifying business records to conceal payments made by his former lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors alleged the $130,000 payment was intended to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Trump, who denies any wrongdoing, plans to appeal the conviction following the sentencing scheduled for September 18.
Defense lawyers argue that allowing presidential statements on public matters to be used against a president sets a dangerous precedent, potentially chilling future presidential communication with the public.
Justice Merchan is expected to rule on Trump’s appeal arguments by September 6, impacting the timeline ahead of the November 5 election and ongoing criminal proceedings against him.
