Donald Trump invokes Hunter Biden’s pardon in attempt to dismiss hush money charges

Donald Trump’s lawyers have echoed President Biden’s statement that “enough is enough” as they pardoned his son, arguing that a New York judge should immediately dismiss his own hush money case.

The language, in a new legal filing Tuesday from Trump’s team, rips language from the Biden White House statement to justify his son Hunter’s extraordinary pardon for any violations dating back to 2014.

The move drew rebukes from some elected Democrats who claimed Biden was putting “family before country.”

“As President Biden put it yesterday, ‘Enough is enough,'” Trump’s lawyers wrote in their latest filing to Judge Juan Merchan, who has already put the case on hold by indefinitely postponing sentencing after Trump’s victory Trump in the November elections.

“The improper continuation of proceedings in this failed lawsuit disrupts President Trump’s transition efforts,” the lawyers continued, before citing the “overwhelming national mandate granted to him by the American people on November 5, 2024,” they wrote .

Trump’s lawyers formally asked a judge on Monday to throw out his hush-money criminal convictionThe argument that pursuing the case would lead to unconstitutional “distortions of the institution of the presidency.”

A New York jury has convicted Trump of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with “hush” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had a sexual affair with Trump. He denies it.

The filing was signed by attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, each of whom was nominated by Trump for top positions at the Justice Department.

In a filing made public Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that dismissal is warranted because of the extraordinary circumstances of his impending death. yield to the White House.

It comes just two days after some Democrats criticized Biden for “putting his family before country” by pardoning Hunter, at a time when Trump has vowed “retaliation” against his political enemies.

In the lawsuit, Trump’s lawyers were not shy about citing Biden’s recent statements Excuse me of his son, who had been convicted for it tax and weapons charges.

“President Biden alleged that his son was ‘selectively and unfairly prosecuted’ and ‘treated differently,'” Trump’s legal team wrote. The Manhattan district attorney, they alleged, had engaged in the kind of political theater “that President Biden condemned.”

“Yesterday, in granting Hunter Biden a 10-year pardon covering all crimes, whether charged or uncharged, President Biden claimed that his son was ‘selectively and unfairly prosecuted.’ and “treated differently,” Trump’s lawyers began.

President Biden argued that “rough politics has infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice.” These comments amounted to an extraordinary condemnation of President Biden’s own DOJ. This is the same DOJ that coordinated and oversaw the politically motivated witch hunts against President Trump. by disgraced Special Counsel Jack Smith, the other biased prosecutors of Smith’s Special Counsel’s Office (“SCO”), and others,” they wrote, singling out Trump’s own repeated claims of a “witch hunt.”

Prosecutors have until December 9 to respond. They have said they will fight any effort to dismiss the case but have indicated they are open to delaying sentencing until after the end of Trump’s second term in 2029.

In an alternative scenario, both Trump and Hunter could have faced prison time. Trump waited until four years after his conviction, although Merchan could also have imposed community service or probation. Hunter Biden was sentenced this month after pleading guilty to tax charges in Calfornia and a jury conviction on gun charges in Delaware.

Biden argued that Hunter was “singled out” because his last name was Biden, though some members of his own party argued the pardon would spark a backlash.

Biden, who is in Angola, has yet to answer questions about the pardon

Following Trump’s election victory last month, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed his sentencing, previously scheduled for late November, to allow the defense and prosecution to weigh in on the future of the case. He also postponed a decision on Trump previous offer dismiss the case on grounds of immunity.

Trump has been fighting for months to overturn the conviction, hiding a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels, whose affair allegations threatened to derail his 2016 campaign. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Trump takes office on January 20. Merchan has not yet set a timetable for a decision.

A dismissal would erase Trump’s historic conviction and spare him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison time. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to office.

Merchan could also decide to uphold the verdict and proceed with sentencing, delaying the case until Trump leaves office, waiting for a federal appeals court to rule on Trump’s parallel attempt to throw the case out of state court. or choose another option.