Manhattan DA Says Trump Lacks Immunity in Hush Money Case

NEW YORK—Prosecutors who were involved in the so-called hush money trial against former President Donald Trump that resulted in a guilty verdict argue that he lacks justification to assert presidential immunity based on a controversial ruling handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court weeks ago. Attorneys working for the office of Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, told the presiding judge over the hush money trial, Juan Merchan, that the defense's latest gambit to overturn the verdict isn't applicable to this case. As a reminder, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of unlawfully falsifying documents in a conspiracy to cover up an affair with AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels in order to sway the 2016 election. While many critics in both parties say that the conviction is flimsy and could be overturned on appeal, the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity for "official acts" is being wielded by the defense to argue that Trump was acting in his role as president to cover up the Daniels affair. Even critics of the conviction see that argument as a stretch, being that the Supreme Court decision only covers official acts.  Breaking the law to cover a personal affair from well before he was in office or even considered running for president is quite a stretch for Trump, the Manhattan DA's office asserts in its most recent filing. AVN reviewed the filing, which was published to the docket last week. Portions of it were redacted by the prosecutors. “This case involved evidence of defendant’s personal conduct, not his official acts,” the prosecutors wrote in the 66-page-long filing to Merchan. Bragg and his prosecutors argue, "The extensive grand jury evidence ... far exceeds the required prima facie showing of every element of falsifying business records in the first degree. ... No part of the grand jury record ... relies on any official acts evidence." The prosecutors then ask Merchan to quash a motion made by Trump's lawyers that the immunity ruling covers evidence in this case and that is should be dismissed. Trump's sentencing, which was originally scheduled for July 11, was pushed back to September 2024 so that Merchan can review the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity for official acts and weigh the motions and evidence filed by the prosecution and defense. In an interview with Rachel Maddow for MSNBC, Daniels said that she fears for her life and the life of her teenage daughter. Considering this context, it is worth noting that a Las Vegas man, Spencer Gear, was charged last week with threatening to commit bodily harm, including murder, against 11 government officials, including Alvin Bragg and Juan Merchan.