Former President Trump has argued in a recent money laundering case that prosecutors have presented evidence protected by the Supreme Court’s ruling that presidential immunity exists, a claim that could overturn his conviction.
President Trump has not claimed immunity on the 34 charges, but has argued that the verdict should be vacated because certain evidence that should never have been presented to the jury was protected as an “official act.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) office is fighting back, and Judge Juan Murchan has already delayed Trump’s sentencing until September.
As the debate heats up, let’s take a look at the evidence Trump’s lawyers have already mentioned, which they believe to be official acts. This is what Trump’s lawyers wrote to the court.
Key Quotes from Hope Hicks
Trump is challenging key testimony provided by Hope Hicks, who worked as Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary and later worked in the White House, in the final question of his direct interrogation.
Hicks testified to jurors that porn star Stormy Daniels alleged an affair with Trump while he was in office, which Trump denies, and that she told her it would be “bad” if the allegations came out publicly before the election.
It supported prosecutors’ argument that the hush money paid to Daniels, who is at the center of the case, was not intended to stave off embarrassment for the Trump family or other non-political reasons, but was directly related to the campaign. Hicks seemed to realize the damage, and after a moment she broke down in tears.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass returned to the testimony during his marathon closing arguments, telling jurors that the testimony “put a nail in Mr. Trump’s coffin.”
Trump’s tweet
Trump’s attorneys have indicated that they believe six tweets the former president posted while in the White House and shown to jurors — posted on Twitter, the social platform now known as X — also constitute protected “official acts.”
The tweets were written as Trump began attacking his former boss in 2018, centering around attacks on Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer who paid the hush money at the center of the case.
Cohen was upset when federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the money-laundering arrangement, searching his home and offices, and eventually pleading guilty in late 2018.
During Trump’s presidency, the White House once said it considered Trump’s mass tweets to be “official statements.”
Trump Administration Ethics Form
“(I)n 2016, the expenses were covered by Michael Cohen, one of Donald J. Trump’s attorneys. Mr. Cohen sought reimbursement for the expenses, and Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen in full in 2017.”
— Trump’s 2018 government ethics form, page 45
The Trump campaign also argued that prosecutors should not have mentioned the embezzlement agreement when they filed their 2018 ethics report on Trump’s administration.
Trump suggested in the filing that the 34 alleged payments to Cohen were actually reimbursements to Cohen for payments to porn star Daniels, undermining the defense’s argument that the payments were truthfully recorded. They were legal advances to Cohen for serving as the president’s personal attorney.
Read Trump’s full ethics statement here.
Trump’s phone records
Finally, Trump’s attorneys said the jury should not have been allowed to see “phone records” showing the phone calls Trump made while he was in the White House.
Prosecutors showed jurors extensive phone records throughout the trial, many of which were made before Trump was elected.
In particular, prosecutors presented jurors with transcripts of four phone calls between Trump and Cohen while he was in the White House.
Click here to read the call log.
