'To end all Hail Marys': Legal expert slams 'casualness' of Trump lawyers’ latest filing
11 March 2024
Two weeks ahead of Donald Trump's criminal trial for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's hush money case against him, the former president is persistent in his efforts to derail the trial.
During the latest episode of MSNBC's Dealing: White House, host Nicolle Wallace spoke with legal correspondent Lisa Rubin about Trump lawyers' Monday, March 11 filing, arguing the case should be paused until the US Supreme Court decides whether or not the MAGA hopeful has absolute immunity from federal prosecution. The high court will hear oral argument for Trump's immunity on April 25.
Wallace noted, "Trump's lawyers argue that prosecutors have suggested that they will introduce "several types of evidence that implicate the concept of official acts for purposes of presidential immunity."
READ MORE: Trump lawyer threatens Alvin Bragg with 'serious' consequences if Michael Cohen testifies
She added, "Part of the potential evidence that they argue, should be precluded from being used at trial include Trump's public statements about Michael Cohen because, they argue, 'he made those statements in his official capacity as president.'"
Rubin emphasized, "This is a Hail Mary to end all Hail Marys. We've got jury selection starting in two weeks. But more importantly, Nicolle, I just want to take a step back and let our viewers know, Donald Trump waived an immunity defense in this case months and months and months ago. He tried to float it in trying to get his case removed to federal court. It was soundly rejected by a federal judge. He initially tried to appeal, and when he realized that that appeal would conflict with arguments he was advancing in the 14th amendment cases, he withdrew that appeal last November.
The legal expert continued, "And now, suddenly, two weeks until the start of jury selection, he's not saying he's immune from the entire suit, because he knows he's waived that argument. What he's saying is, because the state intends to introduce evidence about statements that he made when he was already president, this court should wait to hear the scope of his immunity defense, if any. We know that oral argument is not until April 25. There is no valid presidential immunity defense as applied to Trump's tweets about Michael Cohen, for example."
Rubin emphasized, "In fact, the entire case is about personal acts. Things that Donald Trump did to disguise the fact that he had engaged in campaign finance violations with Michael Cohen and others including the folks at the National Enquirer. There is nothing official about that. When you are acting in your capacity as a candidate and thereafter to cover up what you did as a candidate, that's inherently not official. And yet, they are making this horribly specious argument, and at the same time, telling Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida that they need more time in her case. Why? Because they're going to trial on March 25, as they attempt to adjourn it. They are playing judges off of each other with a sort of casualness that's almost breathtaking."
READ MORE: 'Conspiring to corrupt': Legal experts unpack the 'seriousness' of Trump hush money case
Watch the video below or at this link.