Donald Trump seeks dismissal of criminal conviction in hush money case, cites Hunter Biden's pardon
Trump in court
Donald Trump's legal team on Tuesday (Dec 3) asked a US court to dismiss his criminal fraud conviction in the hush money case involving a porn star, using the same argument President Joe Biden used to pardon his son, Hunter: unfair targeting due to political motives.
Hunter Biden was pardoned by the US president on December 1 despite his conviction on tax evasion and firearms charges. While issuing the full and unconditional pardon, Biden said Hunter was "selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted" by the Department of Justice (DOJ) "only because he is my son."
Also read |Trump slams Joe Biden for pardoning son Hunter, calls it 'abuse and miscarriage of Justice'
Trump team's argument
In a 69-page filing, Trump's legal team drew comparisons between their case and Biden's reasoning.
Presenting their case to presiding judge Juan Merchan, they claimed that the DOJ similarly targeted Trump with politically motivated investigations.
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Trump's team in its filing said that Biden's "comments amounted to an extraordinary condemnation of President Biden's own DOJ," and that "This is the same DOJ that coordinated and oversaw the politically-motivated, election-interference witch hunts targeting President Trump."
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It also once again invoked presidential immunity — that the Supreme Court said only extends to 'official acts' while president — and the Presidential Transition Act, among other laws, to "immediately dismiss the Indictment and vacate the jury's verdicts."
Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records, related to payments of $130,000 made to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair during his 2016 election campaign. Trump has repeatedly denied any affair.
Judge Merchan, on November 22, delayed sentencing because of Trump's victory in the presidential election.
With Trump set to take office again in January, now the judge has to decide to either dismiss the case entirely or suspend the legal consequences until the end of Trump's second term.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has suggested delaying further legal actions, given the "unprecedented circumstances" situation caused by Trump's election win.
(With inputs from agencies)
