DA Alvin Bragg Refuses to Dismiss Trump's 34 Felony Counts

In a letter to Judge Juan Merchan, the Manhattan DA says the jury verdict must stand

Greetings!

We all know that Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an effort to interfere in the 2016 election. What was still up in the air was his sentencing, and whether a few pieces of evidence used at trial were 1.) subject to official acts evidence immunity and 2.) important enough to have made a difference in the outcome even if they were official acts.

Everyone agreed to push the sentencing past the election to November 26th, and Judge Merchan was set to rule on immunity by November 12th. DA Alvin Bragg asked the judge to postpone the immunity issue until November 19th.

Today, Alvin Bragg submitted a letter to Judge Merchan. In the letter, the DA notes that on November 8th, Trump wrote a letter to the court we hadn’t heard about until today asking the judge to dismiss the case entirely. Once that letter was received, the DA asked the judge for some time to respond to Trump’s letter, and said he would explain his position on November 19th. That’s what today’s letter is about. The DA writes:

For the reasons more fully explained below, the People believe that the Court should set a motion schedule for Defendant's forthcoming motion to dismiss, which the People intend to ‘oppose. Assuming Defendant is permitted by the Court to file a motion to dismiss and does so promptly. the People ask that their response to Defendant's motion be due on Monday. December 9. The People believe that further proceedings before this Court should be adjourned to permit litigation of Defendant's forthcoming motion to dismiss and, therefore, the People: would not oppose a defense motion for a stay of further proceedings before this Court while Defendant's motion is adjudicated.

In other words - let’s pause the sentencing and the immunity considerations and deal with this motion to dismiss first. The DA then explains that the people intend to oppose a motion to dismiss the case.

The People have carefully considered the arguments in Defendant's correspondence. The Defendant's letter argues that: (1) this criminal proceeding must be immediately dismissed because Defendant has legal immunity from criminal prosecution based on his current status as President-elect; and (2) his appeal to the Second Circuit from the district court's denial of leave to file a second notice of removal supports a stay before this Court. We believe these arguments are incorrect.

The DA says he respects that a sitting president can’t be prosecuted, but that he also respects the jury, and reminds us that there are not currently any statutes to support Trump’s position because we’ve never had a convicted felon win a presidential election before they were sentenced.

No current law establishes that a president's temporary immunity from prosecution dismissal of a post-trial criminal proceeding that was initiated at a time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution and that s based on unofficial conduct for which the defendant is also not immune. Rather, existing law suggests that the Court must balance competing constitutional interests and proceed “in a manner that preserves both the independence of the Executive and the integrity of the criminal justice system.”

We truly are in uncharted territory.

I imagine the Judge will grant the stay of the rest of the proceedings, and that he will grant the motion practice. Trump will argue that even a president in transition can’t be bothered to participate in motion practice - but he’s not actually participating in transition, having refused to sign the ethics agreement, initiate background checks, or receive funds to establish a transition office. We could also see the judge order briefs on a motion to dismiss and Trump simply ignore it. I’ll keep you posted.

You can read the full letter from DA Alvin Bragg here.

AG