by Misty Severi
Sentencing for Trump’s guilty verdict was originally scheduled for Thursday, but Merchan allowed a delay last week for Trump’s lawyers to argue on the Supreme Court ruling, according to NBC News.
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers asked New York Judge Juan Merchan on Thursday to toss out the guilty verdict in his hush money case after the Supreme Court ruled on the existence of presidential immunity.
The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 opinion on July 1 that presidents have presidential immunity for some “official acts,” but not unofficial ones. However, the high court has not specified what constitutes official versus unofficial acts.
Trump was convicted by a Manhattan jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records in May, and was expected to be sentenced on Thursday. However, Merchan allowed a delay last week for Trump’s team to consider how the Supreme Court ruling could impact his case, according to NBC News. The sentencing is now scheduled for September.
Trump’s attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove argued in the 52-page motion that the trial was “tainted” by evidence and testimony that is now protected under presidential immunity.
“Because of the implications for the institution of the Presidency, the use of official-acts evidence was a structural error under the federal Constitution that tainted [the District Attorney’s] grand jury proceedings as well as the trial,” the lawyers wrote, per ABC News.
The attorneys said testimony from former White House aides, and other evidence related to “official acts,” was used to fill “glaring holes” in the prosecution’s case.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has until July 24 to respond to the motion.
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Misty Severi is a reporter for Just the News.
