Former President Trump has argued that prosecutors in his recent hush-money trial presented evidence protected by the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, an argument that could overturn his conviction.
Trump has not claimed immunity on the 34 guilty charges themselves, but has argued that the verdict must be vacated because certain evidence was protected “official conduct” that should never have been shown to the jury.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (Democrat) has opposed the move, while Judge Juan Marchan has already postponed Trump’s sentencing until September.
As the battle rages, here are some of the evidence that Trump’s legal team has already released and which they believe is official. In a letter To court.
Important Quotes by Hope Hicks
During the final question of direct examination, Trump challenged key testimony from Hope Hicks, who served as press secretary for Trump’s 2016 campaign and later as White House press secretary.
Hicks suggested to jurors that while Trump was in office, he told them it “would have been bad” if porn star Stormy Daniels’ allegations about an affair with Trump – which he denies – had been made public before the election.
“The fact that Daniels was not involved in the investigation is a major turning point for Trump, and it is unclear if she has ever been involved in a criminal investigation,” Hicks said.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass returned to the evidence in his lengthy closing argument, telling jurors the testimony was “the nail in Mr. Trump’s coffin.”
Trump’s tweets
Trump’s legal team has argued that six of the former president’s tweets (or posts on Twitter, the social platform now known as X) sent while he was in the White House and shown to the jury also constituted protected “official duties.”
The tweets center around attacks on Michael Cohen, a former Trump operative who made the hush money payments at the center of the scandal when Trump began rebelling against his former boss in 2018.
Cohen was infuriated when federal prosecutors launched a criminal investigation into the hush money arrangements and searched his home and offices, leading to his eventual guilty plea in late 2018.
During Trump’s presidency, the White House at one point said that Trump’s frequent tweets were considered “official statements.”
President Trump’s Government Ethics Form
“[I]The 2016 expenses were paid by Michael Cohen, one of Donald J. Trump’s lawyers. Cohen sought reimbursement for the expenses, and Trump reimbursed Cohen in full in 2017.
— President Trump’s 2018 Government Ethics Report, page 45
Trump’s team also argues that prosecutors should not have turned over Trump’s government ethics documents in 2018 that mentioned the hush money arrangements.
In the filing, Trump said the monthly payments to Cohen that correspond to the 34 charges were compensation for bribes to porn star Daniels, undermining defense arguments that the payments were truthfully recorded as legal fees for Cohen’s work as the president’s personal lawyer.
Read Trump’s full ethics policy here.
Trump’s phone calls
Finally, Trump’s lawyers argue that the jury should not have been able to see “phone transcripts” that recorded calls made while Trump was in the White House.
During the trial, prosecutors presented jurors with extensive phone records, many of which were made before Trump was elected.
In particular, prosecutors presented the jury with recordings of four phone calls between Trump and Cohen while Trump was in the White House.
