A day after New York prosecutors said they will fight efforts to dismiss Donald Trump’s hush money conviction, the president-elect’s lawyers urged a judge to ignore them and dispose of the case before he takes office in January.
Echoing their arguments since Mr Trump’s win, his lawyers said in a letter on Wednesday to Judge Juan M Merchan that continuing with the case will interfere with Mr Trump’s preparations for returning to the White House and impede his ability to run the country.
The lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, said they will file paperwork formalising their dismissal request and asked Judge Merchan for a deadline of December 20, after Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team is expected to disclose the next steps it intends to take in two federal cases against Mr Trump.
Mr Blanche and Mr Bove urged Judge Merchan to heed the will of the voters who returned Mr Trump to office rather than the word of prosecutors, who are often referred to in court proceedings and filings as representing the “People of the State of New York”.
“On November 5, 2024 the Nation’s People issued a mandate that supersedes the motivations of (the district attorney’s) ‘People’,” Mr Blanche and Mr Bove wrote. “This case must immediately be dismissed.”
Mr Trump has tapped both Mr Blanche and Mr Bove for high-ranking Justice Department jobs.
Mr Trump was convicted in May of falsifying business records to cover up a scheme to influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to quash a story of extramarital sex. Mr Trump denies the allegations.
In a court filing on Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said it opposes any effort to dismiss Mr Trump’s case, but did express openness to potentially delaying his sentencing until after his second term.
DA Alvin Bragg’s office said in that Mr Trump’s looming presidency is not grounds for dropping a case that was already decided by a jury.
But, citing “the need to balance competing constitutional interests”, prosecutors said “consideration must be given” to pausing the case and delaying Mr Trump’s sentencing until after he is out of office.
Prosecutors, in their filing, sought an even more accelerated schedule than the defence for hashing out the dismissal issue. They suggested the defence file its paperwork in the next week or two so they could submit their response by December 9.
Judge Merchan has not set a schedule, nor has he said when he will rule.
In the meantime, the case is effectively on hold. Mr Trump’s sentencing, which had been set for November 26, will not go on as scheduled.
A dismissal would erase Mr Trump’s conviction, the first of a former and now future US president. If the verdict stands and the case proceeds to sentencing, Mr Trump’s punishments would range from a fine or probation to up to four years in prison.
