Trump lawyers are trying to use the Biden pardon to throw off the hush money case

President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers are trying to get his hush money conviction overturned before his inauguration – and they’re doing whatever it takes to make their case.

In a New York court filing released Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers argue that the case against their client should be dismissed in part because of President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden, which Trump’s legal team said amounted to an “extraordinary condemnation.” equals. his own Justice Department.

“In granting Hunter Biden a 10-year pardon that covers all crimes, whether charged or not, President Biden has claimed that his son was ‘selectively and unfairly prosecuted’ and ‘treated differently,'” Trump’s lawyers said – including Todd Blanche, his pick for deputy attorney general, wrote, adding: “President Biden argued that ‘crude politics have infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice.’

“These comments amounted to an extraordinary condemnation of President Biden’s Department of Justice,” the filing continued. “This is the same Department of Justice that coordinated and oversaw the politically motivated, election-impacting witch hunts against President Trump by disgraced Special Counsel Jack Smith, the other biased prosecutors in Smith’s Office of Special Counsel (“SCO”), and others. “It is the same Department of Justice that sent Matthew Colangelo to Attorney General Bragg to help unfairly target President Trump in this empty and lawless case.”

To be clear, the Justice Department did not have oversight of the court challenge to the case. The indictment was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and in May a jury convicted him of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush-money scheme involving porn star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election. After a series of successful delays – and a victory in the November presidential election – Trump’s lawyers managed to postpone the sentencing phase of his sentencing indefinitely.

While the president-elect’s lawyers highlighted Hunter Biden’s pardon in the sensitive introduction to their application, the heart of their argument for why the case should be dismissed lies elsewhere. Trump’s lawyers highlight two important factors affecting the future of the case: a Supreme Court decision granting Trump broad immunity from prosecution for crimes related to his official conduct as president, and the fact that he will actually be back in just a few weeks The President will be in office.

Trump and his team did what they could to prevent Biden from pardoning his son. Trump responded to the news by asking whether Biden had also pardoned the Jan. 6 rioters, who Trump is widely expected to release once he takes off. Trump also raised funds because of Biden’s decision. “Remember when Biden said he would never pardon Hunter?” read one fundraising email. “That was a lie!”