Aug. 30 (UPI) — Donald Trump late Thursday filed a petition again asking for his New York state criminal case to be moved to federal court, as he seeks to delay sentencing and overturn his conviction.
The former president and current GOP presidential nominee is to be sentenced Sept. 18. He was convicted in May by a Manhattan jury on all 34 counts for doctoring business records to hide hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in order to hide their alleged affair from the voting public in the run up to the 2016 election.
He faces up to four years’ imprisonment.
His lawyers have repeatedly sought to have sentencing delayed and the conviction overturned, and on Thursday night filed a petition with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York asking for the case to be moved to the federal arena. They say the Manhattan prosecution is not only unconstitutional but violates a late May Supreme Court ruling that states the president enjoys some immunity for official acts.
The lawyers argue that the case violates Trump’s First Amendment rights due to a post-trial gag order that remains in place prohibiting their client from making “valid criticisms” in public against the case. They also say Trump’s incarceration would be unconstitutional as it would take him off the campaign trail.
“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump — the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election — and voters located far beyond Manhattan,” they wrote in the filing.
The filing also comes more than a year after Trump’s original request for a federal court to take up the case was rejected.
His legal team had argued that the charges were related to his official duties as president despite the offenses having occurred prior to his election to office.
And in the Thursday filing, the defense states the Supreme Court ruling adds “force” to Trump’s arguments to move the case.
Trump’s lawyers argue that the high-court ruling invalidates evidence the Manhattan prosecution used to achieve their conviction during the trial.
“These ongoing harms must be stopped,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the filing.
“The impending election cannot be redone. The currently unaddressed harm to the Presidency resulting from this improper prosecution will adversely impact the operations of the federal government.”
The filing was made days after Trump asked the judge overseeing the so-called hush-money case, Juan Merchan, to delay sentencing until after the Nov. 5 general election.
They argue such a move is necessary to resolve ongoing legal issues due to the Supreme Court ruling. Merchan is also considering a motion to overturn Trump’s conviction based on immunity claim.
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