New York prosecutors urge judge not to toss out Trump hush money conviction

Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office urged a New York judge not to throw out President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal conviction in his hush money case, offering a variety of suggestions about how the case could proceed without interfering with his presidential duties.

One suggestion was for the judge to assure Trump that he will be spared jail time, which could help alleviate his “concerns” while he’s in office, they said in the filing made public Tuesday. But, they argued, there’s no reason to dismiss the case or vacate the verdict in May.

The “overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt and the critical importance of preserving public confidence in the criminal justice system, among many other factors, weigh heavily against dismissal,” the prosecutors from DA Alvin Bragg’s office contended.

They also knocked Trump’s claim that the case should be “immediately” dismissed because he’s already protected by presidential immunity.

“President-elect immunity does not exist. And even after the inauguration, defendant’s temporary immunity as the sitting President will still not justify the extreme remedy of discarding the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict and wiping out the already-completed phases of this criminal proceeding,” the filing said.

“[N]o principle of immunity precludes further proceedings before defendant’s inauguration. And even if judgment has not been entered at the time of defendant’s inauguration, there is no legal barrier to deferring sentencing until after defendant’s term of office concludes,” it said.

In a statement, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung called the filing “a pathetic attempt to salvage the remains of an unconstitutional and politically motivated hoax.”

Trump’s attorneys have argued he already has immunity because there “is no material difference between President Trump’s current status after his overwhelming victory in the national election and that of a sitting President following inauguration.” They say the indictment on felony criminal charges and his subsequent jury conviction should be thrown out on immunity grounds.

Judge Juan Merchan indefinitely postponed Trump’s sentencing last month so both sides could present their arguments.

In Tuesday’s filing, the district attorney’s office said, “At most, defendant should receive temporary accommodations during his presidency to prevent this criminal case from meaningfully interfering with his official decision-making.”

Prosecutors presented a…