President-elect Criminal conviction of Donald Trump should be deported because he was president-electhis lawyers say.
In a letter released Wednesday, defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove – both are expected to take responsibility leadership positions under Trump at the federal Department of Justice — wrote to the judge who presided over Trump’s criminal trial to have his conviction overturned.
“The immediate dismissal of this case is required by the Federal Constitution, the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and the interests of justice, to facilitate the orderly transition of executive power following President Trump’s landslide victory in the presidential election of 2024,” Blanche and Bové wrote.
Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with the concealment of a “hush money” payment made before his first election in 2016. But he was not convicted. That crucial hearing was postponed twice: first to allow his team to seek his dismissal based on a Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling in July, and later to avoid disrupting the campaign presidential.
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Now that Trump has won the election, his lawyers say that means he cannot be punished for his crimes, even before he takes office.
“Just as a sitting president is completely immune from criminal proceedings, so too is President Trump as president-elect,” they wrote. “Federal law provides for the ‘orderly transfer of executive powers in connection with the expiration of the term of office of a President and the inauguration of a new President.'”
Trump’s lawyers previously indicated in letters to Judge Juan Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that they intended to pursue this latest dismissal. On Tuesday, prosecutors wrote to the judge saying that while they would not object to delaying the sentencing — potentially even until the end of Trump’s term in 2029 — they intend to fight the classification of the case.
“Various non-dismissal options should be considered that could address any concerns raised by the expectation of post-trial criminal proceedings during the presidency, such as postponing all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of the defendant’s next presidential term,” prosecutors wrote.
Immediately after a Unanimous jury found Trump guilty in May, he vowed he would fight the conviction.
The jury found that Trump has committed 34 crimes under a plan he signed, in which a series of repayments to Michael Cohenhis former lawyer and fixer, were presented as payments for legal services. It was actually a reimbursement for a $130,000 wire transfer that Cohen made to an adult film star’s lawyer days before the 2016 presidential election. The payment was made so that actress Stormy Daniels refrains from going public with an alleged sexual relationship with Trump just before voters go to the polls.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, denies any wrongdoing and says he never had sex with Daniels.
