Attorneys for President-elect Donald Trump are scrambling to get his felony hush money conviction tossed before his inauguration — and they are doing whatever it takes to make their case.
In a New York court filing made public on Tuesday, Trump's attorneys argue that the case against their client should be dismissed in part because of President Joe Biden's decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden, which Trump's legal team says amounts to an “extraordinary conviction” of his own Justice Department.
“In issuing a 10-year pardon to Hunter Biden that covers any and all crimes whether charged or uncharged, President Biden asserted that his son was 'selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,' and 'treated differently,'” Trump's attorneys — including Todd Blanche, his pick for deputy attorney general — wrote, adding that “President Biden argued that 'raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.'”
“These comments amounted to an extraordinary condemnation of President Biden's own DOJ,” the filing continued. “This is the same DOJ that coordinated and oversaw the politically-motivated, election-interference witch hunts targeting President Trump by disgraced Special Counsel Jack Smith, the other biased prosecutors in Smith's Special Counsel's Office ('SCO'), and others. This is the same DOJ that sent Matthew Colangelo to DA Bragg to help unfairly target President Trump in this empty and lawless case.”
To be clear, the Department of Justice did not oversee the case being challenged in court. The charges were brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and in May a jury convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money scheme involving porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. After winning a series of successful delays — and a victory in November's presidential election — Trump's attorneys managed to indefinitely postpone the sentencing phase of his conviction.
While the president-elect's attorneys highlighted Hunter Biden's pardon in the thorny introduction to their motion, the core of their argument for why the case should be dismissed lies elsewhere. Trump's lawyers highlight two major factors influencing the future of the case: a Supreme Court decision granting Trump widespread immunity from prosecution over crimes related to his official conduct as president, and the fact that in a few short weeks he will actually, once again, be the president.
Trump and his team have been doing what they can to make hay out of Biden pardoning his son. Trump responded to the news by wondering if Biden also pardoned the Jan. 6 rioters, whom Trump is widely expected to let off the hook once he takes off. Trump has also been fundraising off Biden's decision. “Do you remember when Biden said he would never pardon Hunter?” one fundraising email read. “That was a lie!”
