Donald Trump’s attorneys accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of a pursuing a “fantasy” case against the former president by tying hush-money payments made to his former attorney Michael Cohen with the 2016 election.
“The People must attempt to try the case they charged, not the case the District Attorney fantasized about when he was on the campaign trial,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in a reply brief to Judge Juan Merchan, who is considering pre-trial motions ahead of Trump’s New York criminal trial slated to begin on March 25.
Both Trump’s lawyers and the district attorney’s office have urged the judge to exclude testimony and arguments from the other side. Trump is seeking to disqualify testimony from Cohen, as well as evidence related to other alleged “catch and kill” schemes Trump’s circle executed ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
In their filing Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers claimed that the Democratic district attorney has crafted “a fanciful and elaborate narrative that does not exist,” by connecting the charges against Trump for falsified business records with an attempt to influence the 2016 election.
“The case the People charged is a lawless 34-count indictment relating to record entries reflecting monthly retainer payments President Trump made to his personal attorney Michael Cohen in 2017,” Trump’s attorneys wrote. “The People’s motions in limine, on the other hand, describe a fantasy: an uncharged ‘underlying conspiracy’ to ‘influence the 2016 election’ that the District Attorney wishes President Trump had not won.
Trump was charged last year with 34 counts of falsified business records reimbursements made to Cohen, who issued hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to stop her from…
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