Former President Donald Trump plans to argue he cannot be held responsible for the conduct at the heart of his criminal case related to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels because he had lawyers involved in decisions that led to the charges.
Trump’s attorneys told a New York criminal court on Tuesday that a key part of his defense will be that he lacked an “intent to commit the conduct charged in the indictment,” according to their latest filing.
“President Trump intends to elicit these facts from witnesses … whom we expect will testify about President Trump’s awareness of counsel’s involvement in the charged conduct,” his lawyers wrote. “This is not a formal advice-of-counsel defense.”
Prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg allege Trump falsified the documentation surrounding payments to his ex-attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and is preparing for jury selection in the trial scheduled to start on March 25.
Trump’s counsel, led by Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles, outlined their plans to ask prosecutors’ key witness, Cohen, and other individuals who were involved in the Daniels discussions about Trump’s “awareness of counsel’s involvement.”
But by clarifying that this is not a typical advice-of-counsel defense, Trump’s team stated there should not be a need to make more evidence available to Bragg’s office.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan told Trump’s attorneys to notify Bragg’s office by this week if the former president planned to use such a defense, and it’s not immediately clear whether the judge will be receptive to his defense team’s approach.
“So the way I read this is that Trump’s legal argument is his intent can never meet the requisite criminal threshold by virtue of the fact that lawyers were involved,” attorney Bradley Moss posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Sort of a ‘I gave orders, I assume the lawyers do everything lawfully, I am now covered’ argument,” Moss added.
Trump’s filing comes as Merchan is mulling a decision over whether to place a limited gag order on the former president before the trial begins.
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Trump’s counsel also asked the judge on Monday to delay the trial until after the U.S. Supreme Court issues a decision about the scope of presidential immunity stemming from the federal 2020 election subversion case in Washington, D.C.
Bragg’s office is poised to submit a filing soon opposing the request to delay the trial.
