Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office filed a legal brief calling on Judge Juan Merchan for defamation President-elect Donald Trump A guilty verdict in the Manhattan criminal case, providing alternative options to keep the case pending until after the second Trump administration.
“Immunity for the president-elect does not exist. Even after the inauguration, the defendant's temporary immunity as sitting president will not justify the extreme remedy of vacating the jury's unanimous guilty verdict and wiping out the already completed stages of this criminal proceeding.” A court filing released Tuesday from Bragg's office states.
Trump has been found Guilty on 34 counts of forgery Business records in the Manhattan case in May. Bragg's office worked to prove that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to quell her allegations of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
Trump has insisted on his innocence in the case and repeatedly criticized it as an example of the legal warfare promoted by Democrats in an attempt to harm his electoral efforts before November.
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Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower on Thursday, May 30, 2024 after being found guilty of 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)
Trump's sentencing in this case has been repeatedly postponed. Trump's lawyers had asked Merchan to overturn the former president's conviction after the Supreme Court ruled last July that former presidents enjoy significant immunity from prosecution because of their official actions, but not because of their unofficial actions. Merchan has not yet decided on the immunity argument.
Bragg's office acknowledged in its filing on Tuesday that Trump could not be sentenced as president but said Merchan had various options to keep the case pending until 2029 and sentence Trump after his second presidential administration.
“(The) principle of immunity prevents the continuation of proceedings before the defendant's inauguration. Even if judgment has not been rendered at the time of the defendant's inauguration, there is no legal impediment to postponing judgment until after the expiration of the defendant's term of office.” .
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg leaves the trial of Daniel Penny at the Manhattan Supreme Court Building in New York City on Monday, December 2, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
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The Attorney General's Office said a stay of proceedings in this case would relieve the former and incoming president “from any immediate obligations in this case during his time in office, while at the same time respecting the public interest in upholding the rule of law and preserving important aspects of the criminal process that occurred.” actually.” The Attorney General's Office had already called for the case to be halted after the election, with Tuesday's presentation doubling down on that argument.
“The people certainly do not dispute that presidential immunity requires accommodation during a president's term in office. But the extreme remedy of dismissing the indictment and vacating the jury verdict is not justified in light of the multiple alternative arrangements that would more fully address the concerns,” it said. Their case was “triggered by presidential immunity.”
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Judge Juan Merchan, left, and President-elect Donald Trump. (AP)
Bragg's office also put forward that Merchan could use a legal procedure known as “abatement,” a practice used in states like Alabama when a defendant dies after being convicted, but before sentencing. In those cases, the state can maintain the conviction but halt other court proceedings.
Trump spokesman Stephen Chewing criticized the recording on Tuesday, calling it a “pathetic attempt to salvage the remains of an unconstitutional and politically motivated hoax.”
After Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris last month, Trump officials told Fox News Digital exclusively that the case was “effectively over.” Bragg asked to stay until 2029.
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“Prosecutors are trying to save face,” a Trump official told Fox News Digital. “They know this case will be dropped soon.”
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
