Trump’s lawyers sent a letter to the judge who oversaw the New York hush-money trial in which the former president was found guilty of 34 felony counts, according to The New York Times, which obtained the letter. The Associated Press later confirmed The Times’ reporting.
The attorneys asked the judge if they could move to have the former president’s criminal conviction thrown out, citing the Supreme Court’s decision issued Monday morning that found presidents are largely immune from prosecution over official actions taken while in office.
An attorney for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted the hush-money trial, declined to comment.
The letter sent by Trump’s lawyers was not set to be made public until Tuesday, The Times reported.
Trump’s sentencing for his hush-money trial is set for July 11.
It’s unclear how successful Trump’s efforts to overturn his conviction will be. The Times reported that the deadline for filing motions after the trial passed in June.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Business Insider that Trump’s attempt to overturn his conviction is “a long shot.”
The Manhattan trial dealt primarily with actions Trump took before he was president, centering on hush-money payments made to porn actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
“These were payments made from Trump’s personal account, and the Trump Organization employees involved — Michael Cohen, was his personal attorney,” Rahmani said.
Rahmani predicted that Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the hush-money case, would deny a motion to overturn Trump’s conviction. Trump’s attorneys would likely then ask for a pause on sentencing while the motion works its way through appeals. Merchan could stay the entire case while the motion is litigated or opt to move forward with sentencing regardless, Rahmani said.
“Even if he substantially doesn’t have a good argument, Trump’s approach has always been to delay,” Rahmani said.
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