Trump's lawyers, seeking to dismiss hush money case, slam DA for 'thuggish tactics'

The only path forward in Donald Trump's criminal hush money case in New York is vacating his conviction and dismissing the case prior to Trump taking office, lawyers for the president-elect argued in a court filing unsealed Friday.

Trump's lawyers, responding to a filing by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg unsealed Tuesday, rejected each of Bragg's proposals to preserve the president-elect's conviction while respecting the office of the presidency, accusing Bragg of "thuggish tactics" by proposing the judge in the case delay Trump's sentencing until 2029.

"[A] stay would require President Trump to lead the Country while facing the ongoing threat that this Court and DANY are prepared to impose imprisonment, fines, and other punishment as soon as he leaves Office," the filing said. "To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics."

Trump's lawyers also described a plan proposed by Bragg to abate Trump's conviction -- a mechanism generally used when a defendant has died while a case is pending -- as "unhinged" and "extremely troubling."

"As a further illustration of DA Bragg's desperation to avoid legally mandated dismissal, DANY proposes that the Court pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful," wrote Trump's lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who Trump has nominated to top jobs in the Department of Justice.

Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election -- but his sentencing in the case has been indefinitely postponed following his reelection. Trump's lawyers have argued that the entire case should be dismissed because a sitting president is immune from prosecution.

In their filing earlier this week, prosecutors proposed three alternative options to preserve Trump's sentencing while respecting the prohibition on prosecuting presidents, including delaying the sentencing until 2029, abating the sentencing -- which would terminate the case but preserve the record of his conviction -- or sentencing Trump to a punishment that does not include incarceration.

Trump's lawyers rejected each option as unconstitutional and called the case politically motivated, taking the unusual step of citing in the filing's introduction a Truth Social post by Sen. John Fetterman in which the Pennsylvania Democrat called the case an example of "weaponizing the judiciary."

"DA Bragg's interest in maintaining the jury's verdicts as a notch in whatever belt he plans to wear to campaign events in 2025 is not a basis for interfering with the Executive Branch," the filing said.

Trump's lawyers argued that delaying the sentencing until Trump leaves office in 2029 would unfairly require Trump to serve as president while the threat of potential imprisonment hangs over him.

"Staying the proceedings during President Trump's second term would impede the Presidency and give New York County intolerable leverage over the Executive Branch, which exists for the protection of the entire Nation," the filing said.

The filing argued that prosecutors' proposal to abate the case would violate Trump's right to appeal, and sentencing Trump to something other than prison or jail would still be a "grave and impermissible" danger to the functions of the presidency.

"One would expect more from a first-year law student, and this is yet another indication that DANY's opposition to this motion has not been undertaken in good faith," Trump's lawyers said about the abatement idea.

The filing took an overtly political tone, repeatedly referencing Bragg's 2025 campaign for reelection and accusing the district attorney of politicizing the case "to defend his poor record."

"It is abundantly clear at this point that DANY will say and do anything -- including urging the Court to disregard the Constitution, the New York Court of Appeals, and the Second Circuit -- to try to make this abomination stick," the filing said.