MANHATTAN (CN) — Manhattan prosecutors are sticking to their vow to push forward with their hush money case against Donald Trump, even after he won the presidential election in November.
In a court filing made public on Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg argues that Trump’s status as the president-elect shouldn’t prevent him from being sentenced for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, charges a New York jury found Trump guilty of earlier this year.
Ever since Trump was declared the next president of the United States, he has been relentless in his pursuit for the “immediate dismissal” of the hush money case, citing presidential immunity and the supremacy clause, among other factors. He filed a lengthy, sweeping motion last week urging New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to drop the charges.
“The sitting president may not be subject to any phase of a criminal proceeding as a defendant,” Trump argues.
But Bragg takes umbrage with this claim, according to his new filing, as Trump is not yet the “sitting president.”
“As an initial matter, presidential immunity under Article II of the Constitution does not extend to the president-elect,” Bragg wrote in the 82-page memo. “The president-elect is, by definition, not yet the president.”
Even once Trump takes office in January, Bragg argues that there is no precedent to suggest that the case be tossed since the jury already rendered a guilty verdict against him.
“The people do not dispute that presidential immunity requires accommodation during a president’s time in office,” Bragg said. “But the extreme remedy of dismissing the indictment and vacating the jury verdict is not warranted in light of multiple alternative accommodations that would fully address concerns raised by presidential immunity.”
Bragg reiterated a suggestion he’s made in the past — that Trump’s sentencing be stayed for the entirety of his incoming four-year presidential term. He also floated the possibility of the court terminating the sentencing altogether while still upholding the jury’s guilty verdict and not dismissing the indictment.
“Given the ability of these alternatives to dismissal, this court should deny defendant’s request to dismiss the indictment and vacate the jury verdict,” Bragg wrote.
Bragg reminded the court that “the president is not above the law,” and the only purpose of presidential immunity is to ensure that criminal litigation doesn’t interfere with the duties of the commander-in-chief. Since this case concerns Trump’s unofficial acts, Bragg claims, that shouldn’t be an issue.
“At most, defendant should receive temporary accommodations during his presidency to prevent this criminal case from meaningfully interfering with his official decision-making,” Bragg said. “But multiple accommodations well short of dismissal and vacatur would satisfy that objective.”
Trump’s election victory has spelled the end of the federal criminal cases against him, thanks in part to a Department of Justice rule that bars prosecuting sitting presidents. But Bragg, a local official, has promised to see his case through after his office won the historic trial against Trump in May.
Bragg finds himself in uncharted legal waters, though. No U.S. president has ever been charged with a felony, much less found guilty.
Now that Trump is poised to take the White House in 2025, Merchan has to make a decision for the ages: whether Trump is immune from being sentenced for crimes that a jury found he committed.
Merchan indefinitely delayed Trump’s sentencing, which was initially slated for Nov. 26, as the parties duke out the issue of immunity.
Trump’s felony charges stemmed from an illicit hush money scheme that prosecutors said was part of a broader attempt from Trump to negate negative press surrounding his 2016 presidential run.
During a six-week trial earlier this year, prosecutors presented evidence outlining Trump’s illegal and tireless efforts to thwart rumors of his adulterous behavior. They argued that Trump conspired to pay off Stormy Daniels — a former adult film star who claims to have had sex with Trump in 2006 — to keep her from telling the media about the tryst and interfering with his bid for the White House.
Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen testified that Trump ordered him to pay Daniels $130,000 to keep her quiet. The jury found that Trump later falsified business records to repay Cohen and keep the scheme under wraps.