On Thursday evening, former President Trump formally requested that Judge Merchan overturn his guilty verdict in the case of New York v. Trump. This request follows a Supreme Court ruling that presidents have immunity for official acts.
Trump was found guilty in an unprecedented criminal trial last month on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, following a six-week trial stemming from Bragg’s investigation.
The formal motion was filed Thursday evening.
“The Court should dismiss the indictment and vacate the jury’s verdicts based on violations of the Presidential immunity doctrine and the Supremacy Clause,” Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote in the motion.
Last week, Trump indicated that he would seek to overturn his criminal conviction in the Manhattan case. This move comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a former president has significant immunity for official acts committed while in office.
In the formal motion on Thursday evening, Blanche cited the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and argued that certain evidence related to “official acts” should not have been allowed during the trial.
Specifically, Blanche contended that testimony from former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks and former Special Assistant to the President Madeleine Westerhout, along