Trump lawyers call on judge to dismiss hush money case

US President-elect Donald Trump's lawyers asked a New York state judge on Tuesday to dismiss the criminal case in which he was convicted on 34 counts related to hush money payments to a former porn actress in May this year.

His lawyers argued that having the case and sentencing hanging over him after he takes office in the US on January 20 would impede his ability to govern and "disrupt his transition efforts."

"Local elected officials such as D.A Bragg have no valid basis to cause such disruptions," defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Boye wrote in a court filing in reference to the prosecutor of the case.

Trump has nominated both Blanche and Boye to senior positions in the Justice Department since his election win. 

Sentencing delayed indefinitely

Justice Juan Merchan in Manhattan last month suspended the previously scheduled November 26 sentencing date indefinitely to give Trump the chance to seek dismissal. 

The prosecutors with Bragg's office had recommended suspending sentencing until after Trump's second term as president was complete, but had indicated they would fight motions to drop the case altogether. 

Trump's legal team responded that this was "ridiculous" and would lead to sentencing around a decade after the investigation began.

Reference to Hunter Biden pardon in argument

Trump's lawyers also mentioned President Joe Biden's recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, after his conviction on tax and gun charges, arguing that there were parallels in this case. 

"President Biden asserted that his son was 'selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,' and 'treated differently,'" the legal team said. 

Manhattan's district attorney, they alleged, had engaged in the same type of political theater "that President Biden condemned" in pursuing Trump.

What was the case about? 

Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records. 

He was accused of trying to conceal a $130,000 (roughly €125,000) payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels, just before the 2016 presidential election, to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier. Prosecutors portrayed it as an attempt to avoid negative attention ahead of the vote.

Trump says her story was not true and denies any wrongdoing in the case. 

Prosecutors alleged that Trump's then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels, with Trump later reimbursing him and logging the payments as legal expenses to conceal their nature. 

Trump had said the payments were properly characterized as legal expenses and that he intended to appeal the verdict even if the case is  not dismissed. 

Other court cases against Trump have already been dropped or shelved in light of his election win. These include two sets of felony charges, connected to the January 6, 2021 uprising at Congress and to him allegedly being inappropriately in possession of classified documents.

msh/kb (AP, Reuters)