Donald Trump’s lawyers have asked for the former president’s conviction in his hush-money criminal case to be overturned and his sentencing this month delayed, US media report.

A letter sent by Trump’s lawyers to the New York judge presiding over the trial reportedly cites Monday’s Supreme Court ruling that granted the former president immunity from prosecution for official actions he took while in office.

In May, Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records. He will be sentenced on 11 July.

His team points out that he signed off the records while president in 2017, but one lawyer suggested this was unlikely to be considered an official act.

  • qooqie@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I will be beyond furious if it gets overturned. There’s no way in hell hush money is an official act

    • FrostyTheDoo@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      He wasn’t even president at the time of the hush payment was he? There’s no way that could be considered an official act. Unless maybe the supreme Court was full of bribable puppets, with 1/3 of them having been appointed by the convicted felon.

      Oh, shit.

      • Pistcow@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        The Supreme Court ruled that if a president is doing something presidential it’s presumed above board and can’t be questioned or used as evidence. Saying talking to Hope Hicks, his aid while in office, makes it Presidential and it need to be littigated that it wasn’t. A few pieces of evidence were used while he was President and in office so he says it’s presidential and he’s presumed immune until otherwise proved.

        This is the serious issue with the ruling. The President is responsible for the military branch so if he ordered someone assassinated by Seal Team 6 he’s immune with multiple layers given by the supreme court and it have to be worked upto the Supreme court that just gave him those powers which would take years.

        Democrats (Biden) wont test this theory but Trump already admited to becoming a dictator day one. Basically, a republican can never be elected aspresident, and if they do we become a fascist state.

          • Pistcow@lemm.ee
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            4 months ago

            I mean, that’s the simplified description. I just explained the new mechanics.

        • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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          4 months ago

          The President is responsible for the military branch so if he ordered someone assassinated by Seal Team 6 he’s immune with multiple layers given by the supreme court

          Seal Team 6 is probably pretty squarely in the absolute immunity realm, at least if he doesn’t the absolute minimum to try to say it’s for national security. That’s the stuff that shouldn’t even be challengeable.

          • Pistcow@lemm.ee
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            4 months ago

            He can use Seal Team 6 to assassinate Joe Biden, Bernie Sander, and Chris Gaians for being threats to the nation.

            President is in charge of ST6 she’s immune regardless how unlawful it is and you’d have yo worm your way to the supreme court for them to say it was an unofficial duty all while using ST6 to assassinate the next layer of judges.

      • Fades@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        No he was not, he used campaign finances for the hush money and once he got the pres he stopped upkeeping the agreement and didn’t care which provided proof that it was purely about the election and thus furthered the claim of election interference.

        All of that happened before he was pres. It cannot be an official act if you weren’t an official yet.

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      There’s no way in hell hush money is an official act

      The hush money wasn’t the illegal part. It was covering up the hush money payments that was illegal and what he was convicted on.

      • Wrench@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        The hush money wasn’t illegal. It was the source of the money that was illegal. He illegally paid her with campaign money.

        • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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          4 months ago

          Other way around. It was business funds paying her, but since the payment was for a political purpose it should have been campaign funds and so it was an illegal political contribution that was then covered up (the actual crime in the end).

      • Fades@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        This is wrong too lmao. It was not about covering up the payments that caused the trouble, it’s because he USED CAMPAIGN FINANCES to fund the hushmoney payments to ensure none of it reached the public before the election (hence the evidence showing he didn’t give a fuck once he had the pres)

        • Wrench@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          He continued to pay her after he took office. It wasn’t a one time payment, apparently.

    • dhork@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      No, but the issue is that some of the evidence that was presented at trial came from after Trump was President, and members of his inner circle had White House roles. Under this new doctrine, simply presenting that evidence that involved White House officials would no longer be allowed, even if that evidence pointed to a crime. So the judge now has to make a determination of how much of the prosecution’s case depended on that. The Judge himself may have to throw the verdict out, if too much of that seeped into the trial. It wouldn’t let Trump totally off the hook, but would necessitate a new trial. Which is bullshit, because there’s nothing the prosecution could have done about it. The SC changed the rules after the trial was over.

      This was the very point that Amy Coney Barrett wrote about in her concurring opinion, she felt this part went too far. So this evidentiary point was really decided 5-4, and seems to be the most egregious part of it.

      And now, all any corrupt President needs to do is give their corrupt friends roles in the Administration, and they can do all the crime they want, knowing that prosecutors are shielded from ever using evidence from those people in court.

      • girlfreddy@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        As a Canadian, with whom you share the longest undefended border in the world and billions of dollars in cross-border trade, I feel bad for you all.

        But I think we might have to build our own wall soon to keep this kind of shit out of Canada.

        • dhork@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Hey, can you let me in? I prefer Tim Hortons coffee to Dunkin, that’s gotta be worth some expedited consideration.

          I was in Montréal a few years ago and thought it was awesome that Tim’s served fast food Poutine.

        • Moneo@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          We’re on the path to electing a pro-rich, anti-trans, anti-carbon tax conservative :/

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    The Party of Jesus Christ just made Fucking a Porn Star behind your Pregnant Wife’s back and then using your Sheep’s Money to keep her quiet an OFFICIAL Act of the Presidency! And DEMOCRATS are the Swamp!

    • Fades@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      The Federalist Society is the actual “swamp”/deepstate. Just look at them ruling from the highest bench in the nation. They are kingmakers and drain the swamp was just another projected lie.

    • Steve@communick.news
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      4 months ago

      No, that’s not at all what they did.
      All those things happened before he was president. None of it would count.

      This ruling is about his January 6th trial, and the Georgia election interference trial.

      • FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io
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        4 months ago

        He has not yet been convicted of either of those, so there is nothing to overturn. He’s talking about the hush money case.

        • Steve@communick.news
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          Yes I know that’s what they’re talking about. And this SCOTUS ruling doesn’t effect that case at all.

          This case was brought to SCOTUS by Trumps Jan6 lawers. It only matters to things done while in office.

          The bribery case, the falsified documents case, aren’t at all effected by this ruling.

        • Steve@communick.news
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          4 months ago

          Ah! I didn’t realize that. Then it might derail that conviction.

          Thought it would still be a big lift to determine it was an official act as POTUS.

          • ulkesh@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            That is the whole point of the ruling – to cause confusion and allow there to be an argument that it was an official act. It’s clearly not and any logical and reasonable person would see that, but logic and reason doesn’t exist in this country anymore.

  • Gerudo@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    Since the case was brought and tried before the ruling, how is the ruling retroactive?

      • Chocrates@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        The Prosecutors used evidence from when Trump was in office so that makes the ruling apply. It’s so dumb

          • Makeitstop@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            The ruling wasn’t just that you can’t charge the president with crimes related official acts. It also said that you can’t use official acts as evidence. Since the case included evidence from the time when Trump was president, they want it thrown out because apparently that shouldn’t be admissible because fuck you.

          • Wrench@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            But I believe the concern, and the entire reason prosecutors are allowing the delay, is that all evidence from the time Trump was president has become “privileged” and now may need to be individually approved as admissible.

            This evidence was signing hush money checks while he was president, apparently.

      • Phoonzang@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        “All the riches of these lands are mine, all of Gastown is MINE!” Scabrous Scrotus, yeah, sounds about right.

    • SeattleRain@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Because he was running for President. Can’t be President unless you run so that counts as an official act too.

  • zabadoh@ani.social
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    4 months ago

    I hate to say this, but the only way to save US democracy is for Biden to use this new “absolute immunity” to arrest or assassinate the SCOTUS and DJT and other enemies of pluralistic democracy.

    I doubt that DJT and his allies would hesitate to do the same to their perceived “enemies”

    • brachiosaurus@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      This did not work out for the Roman Republic when Sulla did it. All it did was pave the way for Julius and Octavian to do it again later

    • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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      4 months ago

      He already wanted the National Guard to shoot BLM protesters. That seems like a pretty immune act in this ruling. Get some 18 year old conservative shithead guardsman pulled in from bumfuck county to the godless city to pull the trigger and start the shooting and he’s all good.