Former President Donald Trump urged a New York judge to dismiss criminal charges relating to hush money payments in sweeping arguments that included claims Trump was indicted to interfere in his 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the Manhattan district attorney’s office waited five years after the investigation was initially launched and then only seated the grand jury that handed up the indictment weeks after Trump announced last fall that he was running for president again.
“The indictment was filed six years after the conduct at issue, more than four-and-a-half years after DANY began to investigate it, and more than three years after DANY started presenting evidence to a grand jury,” his attorneys wrote.
“The delay has prejudiced President Trump, interfered with his ongoing presidential campaign, and violated his due process rights,” they wrote.
The long-shot legal argument mirrors many of the public statements Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges in this case and all others against him, has made in social media posts and elsewhere in response to the four criminal indictments he is facing – for his handling of classified documents and interference in the 2020 election. He often targets the prosecutors to claim that the cases are aimed to stop him from returning to the White House.
Trump’s attorneys are also seeking a hearing before Judge Juan Merchan to inquire about grand jury leaks and to obtain more specific information about the prosecution’s evidence relating to Trump’s intent to defraud.
“There was no evidence before the grand jury that President Trump intended to cheat anyone out of money or property through the allegedly falsified entries,” Trump’s attorneys added.
Trump was indicted in March on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges…
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