[Defense Lawyers for Trump Use Biden’s Pardon of Hunter to Argue for Dismissal of Hush Money Case
Defense lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump are using President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter to argue that Trump’s conviction in his Manhattan hush money case should be dismissed. In a motion filed Monday, Trump’s lawyers claimed that Biden’s comments about Hunter Biden’s prosecution amount to a condemnation of the Justice Department and that New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg has engaged in “political theater.”
Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who have been picked for top Justice Department posts in Trump’s new administration, argued that Biden’s pardon of Hunter Biden, which covers any and all crimes whether charged or uncharged, shows that the President believes his son was “selectively, and unfairly prosecuted” and “treated differently.” They claimed that these comments amount to a condemnation of the Justice Department and that Bragg’s office has engaged in the same kind of “political theater” as Biden.
In addition to the pardon argument, Trump’s attorneys also told the judge that his case should be dismissed given his reelection last month. They pointed to special counsel Jack Smith’s decision to end the two federal criminal cases he had brought against Trump last year, citing longstanding Justice Department policy barring the department from criminally pursuing a sitting president.
Trump’s lawyers also argued that his status as President-elect and soon-to-be sitting President is a “legal impediment” to further criminal proceedings based on the Presidential immunity doctrine and the Supremacy Clause. They claimed that even special counsel Jack Smith has been forced to concede that President Trump’s status as President-elect mandates dismissal of the unjust prosecutions pending against him.
Bragg’s office has opposed any effort to toss the case, arguing that Trump’s felony conviction should stand. A source close to the district attorney’s office said it is open to a four-year pause of the case, but no current law establishes that a president’s temporary immunity from prosecution requires dismissal of a post-trial criminal proceeding.
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