Lawyers representing former President Donald Trump are asking a federal court to block Trump's New York criminal trial from the state, arguing that he was the victim of a “constitutional violation” in legal proceedings that conflict with the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity.
“The ongoing litigation will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump as a leading candidate for the 2024 presidential election and to voters far beyond Manhattan,” the lawyers wrote in Thursday's filing.
“And a wholly unjust ruling is scheduled to be handed down on September 18, 2024, potentially resulting in President Trump being summarily and unconstitutionally imprisoned and unable to continue his groundbreaking campaign,” they warned.
“Under these circumstances, post-trial deportation is necessary to provide a fair trial free from local hostility so that President Trump may seek relief for his constitutional violations,” the lawyers added in seeking to overturn the conviction.
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At left, former President Donald Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump's lawyers said in his New York criminal trial that Bragg's office “violated the principles of presidential immunity at the grand jury hearing and again at trial by relying on evidence from President Trump's official duties during his first term in office.” (Emily Elconin/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
In May, Trump was convicted of 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records following a six-week trial that stemmed from an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg into alleged hush money payments before the 2016 presidential election.
But in a filing in federal district court in Manhattan, Trump's lawyers wrote that Bragg's office “violated presidential immunity at the grand jury hearing and again at trial by relying on evidence from President Trump's official duties during his first term in office.”
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“The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that these types of violations threaten the very structure of the federal government and the ability of future presidents to carry out its important duties as intended by the Framers of the Constitution,” they said.
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Judge Juan Merchan postponed former President Donald Trump's sentencing date to 10 a.m. on September 18. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
“In a decision finalized less than 30 days ago, the Supreme Court held that President Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official conduct and, as is specifically relevant here, that prosecutors cannot use evidence of official conduct in connection with charges that they claim arise out of non-official conduct,” they continued.
“The Manhattan District Attorney's witch hunt violates numerous provisions of the U.S. Constitution, is shattered by the Supreme Court's historic ruling on presidential immunity, and must be transferred to federal court and summarily dismissed,” Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chang told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Former President Donald Trump answered reporters' questions after remarks at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office in Howell, Michigan on August 20. (Nick Antaya/Getty Images)
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According to the Associated Press, a federal judge has already rejected Trump's attempt to move his criminal case out of New York state court, ruling in July 2023 that “hush payments made to adult film stars are unrelated to the President's official duties” and “do not in any way reflect the color of the President's official duties.”
