New surprises before US Presidential Elections: Donald Trump's lawyers ask NYC judge to overturn hush-money conviction

The run-up to the US Presidential Elections 2024 has begun in full force with the recently concluded US Presidential Debate, that saw Donald Trump almost steamrolling his opposition candidate Joe Biden during a war of words in Atlanta. However, there is a new twist to Donald Trump's criminal case conviction around hush-money, as his lawyers have asked a New York judge to overturn his conviction postpone his sentencing, that is scheduled for this month, according to an AOL report.

Latest updates around Donald Trump's hush money case

The recent update around the hush money criminal case comes in after Donald Trump was granted immunity from prosecution around any administrative decision he may have made while being in the President's office. Trump was convicted of 34 counts of business record falsification, the sentencing for which is scheduled in a matter of 8 days.

Also Read: BBC presenter calls for Trump to be murdered by Biden

What is Trump's current defense in the hush money criminal case?

According to the former President's lawyers, Trump signed the records while still in office as President back in the year 2017, and that he could not be convicted for the same, based on the Supreme Court's ruling. However, there were opposing statements from one lawyer who claimed that this particular action is unlikely to be deemed as an official act as President.

Trump's lawyers had argued the same issue last year too

Back in 2023, his lawyers and thrown in similar arguments claiming that the allegations of hush money against him arose when he was still performing his official presidential duties. At that time too, a federal judge had stated that Trump was not able to clarify if the acts committed by him fell under the scope of his Presidential duties, according to AOL.

Also Read: Why have 39 US states witnessed COVID-19 surge? Know about reasons, new variants, common symptoms and more

What does the recent Supreme Court ruling on Trump say?

Even though the Supreme Court's ruling regarding immunity against prosecution in Trump's case is being hailed as a major win ahead of the US Presidential Elections, the justices also mentioned that he had immunity for his 'official acts', but not for those which will be considered as 'unofficial'.

FAQs:

Has Donald Trump been convicted of a crime?
Donald Trump has been convicted for business records falsification in 2017, for which the courts have ruled against him. Trump awaits his sentencing, scheduled for July 11, this year.

Did Donald Trump win the US Presidential debate?
Donald Trump indeed had a big edge over his political opponent Joe Biden during the US Presidential election debate that took place in Atlanta recently.