In a recent court filing, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office argues that former President Donald Trump’s criminal case and conviction remain unaffected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision on presidential immunity.
“That decision has no bearing on this prosecution and would not support vacatur of the jury’s unanimous verdict (let alone dismissal of the indictment) even if its reasoning did apply here,” reads the July 24 brief.
In a different criminal case involving former President Trump, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that presidents have absolute immunity for core constitutional duties, presumptive immunity for official actions, and no immunity for unofficial activities.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the majority opinion, also clarified that communications between a president and their aides cannot be investigated to determine if an action was official.
Hours after the ruling on July 1, attorneys for former President Trump in his Manhattan case requested that New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan dismiss both the indictment and the guilty verdict.
They argued that communications between Trump and his aides were improperly used as evidence before the grand jury that issued the indictment and the jury that delivered the conviction.
The district attorney is arguing that all criminal charges in this case “stem from defendant’s ‘unofficial acts’—conduct for which ‘there is no immunity.’”
Prosecutors also argue that the affected evidence is only a “sliver” if the “mountains of testimony and documentary proof that the jury considered,” therefore not warranting dismissal.
Former President Trump faced 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records. Prosecutors argued that, even without the disputed evidence, the remaining evidence presented to the grand jury supports these charges.
The 34 records are 11 checks to Mr. Cohen and their corresponding invoices and vouchers, including one repeated record after the initial one was lost.
Prosecutors argue that the grand jury record establishes that these are business records, that they contain false entries, that former President Trump caused or made the entries, and that he “acted with intent to defraud.”
“Even excluding all of the evidence defendant belatedly identifies as immune, the grand jury record is easily sufficient to support the indictment,” the brief reads.
Justice Merchan has scheduled former President Trump’s sentencing in the case to Sept. 18.
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