NOT BACKING DOWN

Trump Lawyers Want Hush-Money Conviction Overturned for Good

The trial was “tainted” by evidence that should not have been introduced under the supreme court’s recent ruling on immunity, the lawyers argued.

Lawyers for Donald Trump are urging a judge in New York to overturn his conviction and dismiss the hush-money case against the former president, arguing some evidence “tainted” the trial and should not have been allowed under the supreme court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. According to the New York Post, among the “tainted” evidence is a conversation between Trump and then-Communications Director Hope Hicks, where Trump tells Hicks that “it was better” if the story surrounding his alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels came out after the 2016 election. “The use of official-acts evidence was a structural error under the federal Constitution,” lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in a court filing dated July 10 but released on Thursday, according to The Guardian. “The jury’s verdicts must be vacated.” The lawyers said after the July 1 supreme court decision, which ruled that presidents are immune from prosecution for some official acts–but left the meaning of what those “official acts” might be to a lower court–the guilty verdict against Trump could not hold. Judge Juan Merchan has already delayed sentencing from July to September. A spokesperson for Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office declined to comment to The Guardian on Thursday. Prosecutors have until 24 July to respond to the latest move by team Trump.