(LibertySociety.com) – President-elect Donald Trump’s attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the ongoing criminal case against him in New York, arguing that the charges are politically motivated and unconstitutional. The motion, filed in response to the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, also cites President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, as a precedent.
Trump’s legal team characterized the case as a “failed lawfare” effort intended to undermine his transition to the presidency. They invoked presidential immunity, the Presidential Transition Act, and the Supremacy Clause, asserting that the charges should be dismissed immediately. The motion argues that the legal system is being weaponized against Trump, pointing to the Biden pardon as evidence of selective prosecution.
The New York case stems from allegations that Trump falsified business records related to hush-money payments during his 2016 campaign. Trump’s legal team dismissed the charges as “contrived” and part of a “lawless prosecution,” asserting they lack constitutional merit. In the filing, Trump’s attorneys also emphasized that the charges violate constitutional protections afforded to a sitting president. They argued that delaying the case until after Trump’s term would further breach constitutional principles.
Central to the defense is Biden’s pardon of Hunter Biden, which Trump’s lawyers highlighted as setting a significant precedent. Biden’s statement accompanying the pardon criticized the influence of “raw politics” on the legal system, a sentiment that Trump’s team claims mirrors the circumstances of their case. The motion described the hush-money prosecution as a baseless and politically driven distraction from Trump’s presidential agenda.
Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung, described the filing as a decisive step toward ending what he called a “witch hunt” against the president-elect. “This case is a distraction from the important work President Trump will undertake to lead the nation,” Cheung said.
The motion represents the latest escalation in Trump’s legal battles, as his team seeks to frame the New York case as a politically motivated effort. Whether the court will accept the argument remains to be seen, but the filing underscores the heightened tensions surrounding Trump’s return to the presidency.
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