Some Democrats will not abandon their plan to jail Donald Trump. On Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg opposed the president-elect’s motion to dismiss his case, drawing significant attention to the legal challenges ahead.
Following Trump’s presidential victory, many expected the case to be dismissed. However, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, with backing from New York Attorney General Letitia James—who had openly campaigned on prosecuting Trump—has steadfastly refused to drop the charges.
The Manhattan DA says he will wait for 2029, according to The Daily Caller.
“The People deeply respect the Office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency and acknowledge that Defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions,” prosecutors wrote. “We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system.”
“No current law establishes that a president’s temporary immunity from prosecution requires dismissal of a post-trial criminal proceeding that was initiated at a time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution and that is based on unofficial conduct for which the defendant is also not immune,” the filing continues.
Merchan halted all deadlines in the case last week in light of Trump’s election victory, delaying his decision on Trump’s motion to toss the jury’s verdict based on the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity.
Prosecutors indicated in the Tuesday filing they would not oppose a continued delay in Trump’s sentencing date, which remains on the calendar for Nov. 26.
“First, as a practical matter, Defendant’s stated plan to pursue immediate dismissal and file interlocutory appeals will likely lead to a stay of proceedings in any event: staying proceedings now until this Court’s resolution of the motion to dismiss would thus avoid unnecessary litigation,” prosecutors wrote. “Second, proceeding to sentencing now would not avoid the new immunity question that Defendant intends to aise.”
Prosecutors said that any potential jail sentence would not be served during his presidency.
President-elect Donald Trump was convicted over the summer on charges of falsifying business records in a case that even some liberal commentators described as excessively “contorted,” calling it an “ill-conceived, unjustified mess.”
Although Democrats believed that labeling Trump a “convicted felon” could help them in 2024, polling has consistently shown that the public could see through the sham.
At the federal level, the Department of Justice’s special counsel, Jack Smith, has paused his criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump, citing a long-standing policy that prohibits the prosecution of a sitting president.
Smith has been charged with “unwinding” the cases brought against Trump by Merrick Garland and Joe Biden. With Trump set to assume office, DOJ officials have acknowledged that the cases cannot move forward during his presidency and are unlikely to reach trial beforehand due to legal and constitutional hurdles, including potential appeals that could reach the Supreme Court.
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