Trump Asks Manhattan Judge to Dismiss Hush Money Conviction

NEW YORK—Defense attorneys representing former President Donald Trump have officially requested that the guilty conviction be tossed out in his so-called hush money trial involving former adult star Stormy Daniels and an effort to cover up a scheme to silence her from sharing her story. AVN reported extensively on Trump's trial and the ongoing legal and personal fight between the two.  Todd Blanche, Trump's lead attorney, and the other attorneys filed a 52-page motion Thursday before presiding Judge Juan Merchan. They are citing the expanded presidential immunity that the U.S. Supreme Court handed down that immunizes current and former presidents from prosecution as it relates to the commission of "official acts." The ruling also prohibits using "official acts" as evidence to punish a president for unofficial acts. Blanche and company are pointing to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's prosecutors calling to the stand former Trump White House Communications Director Hope Hicks. Hicks was called by prosecutors during the trial to piece together the narrative that they covered up the Stormy Daniels affair and the news that broke when she exposed the story. "Because of the implications for the institution of the presidency, the use of official-acts evidence was a structural error under the federal Constitution that tainted ... grand jury proceedings as well as the trial," Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the filing. Citing the Supreme Court ruling, Trump's lawyers do face an uphill battle with Judge Merchan. Merchan, who was unswayed by the claims during the trial that Trump was simply covering up the Stormy Daniels affair as just a "private matter," is unlikely to be swayed by the claim that he was operating in any official capacity as president. The consensus among legal experts, despite the expansion of presidential immunity by the high court, is that Trump will not be able to make the case that anything in his efforts to cover up the affair and the conspiracy to cover up was official. In fact, these are considered private and political matters. Donald Trump's attorneys convinced the prosecutors to postpone Trump's sentencing, which was scheduled for today, to a later date in September. But the case is unlikely to be dismissed, let alone the verdict overturned, until Judge Merchan reviews the filings and the case.  Stormy Daniels recently appeared on MSNBC being interviewed by primetime anchor Rachel Maddow. This was Daniels' first interview since a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up an affair he had with Daniels and, in turn, unlawfully interfere in the 2016 election. In her interview with Maddow, Daniels divulged new details about how she fears for her life and the privacy and safety of her teenage daughter.