Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg asked a judge in New York to deny former President Donald Trump‘s request that his hush money case be tossed out on presidential immunity grounds, according to a court filing made public Thursday.
Prosecutors for Bragg told Judge Juan Merchan the Supreme Court’s recent decision that presidents enjoy some immunity from criminal prosecution had “no bearing” on Trump’s case.
“Contrary to defendant’s arguments, that decision has no bearing on this prosecution and would not support vacatur of the jury’s unanimous verdict (let alone dismissal of the indictment) even if its reasoning did apply here,” prosecutors wrote.
Trump was convicted in May of falsifying records of a payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, but after the Supreme Court issued its immunity decision on July 1, Trump requested the trial and charges be dismissed.
The Supreme Court had included a stipulation in its ruling that certain evidence involving a president’s official acts cannot be used against the president in a criminal prosecution. Trump’s attorneys argued that several pieces of evidence, such as his exchanges with former White House communications aide Hope Hicks, were improperly introduced at his trial based on the high court’s ruling.
Prosecutors argued that even if some of the evidence cited by Trump’s attorneys was protected by presidential immunity, the verdict should still stand because of the “overwhelming” amount of other evidence.
“Even if that decision required the exclusion of all of the evidence that defendant cites here, there would still need be no basis for disturbing the verdict because of the other overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt,” prosecutors wrote.
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Prosecutors also said Trump’s attorneys raised immunity arguments before the trial that did not include the evidence Trump’s team now has a problem with. Therefore, the defense attorneys did not adequately preserve Trump’s right to bring the new immunity claims, prosecutors argued.
Merchan has said he will decide on whether to throw out Trump’s guilty verdict on Sept. 6 and that he will sentence Trump on Sept. 18 if it is “still necessary.”
