NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� lawyers are raising a new claim in their fight to overturn his hush money conviction, alleging that the historic verdict was tainted by juror misconduct.
But prosecutors contend that the allegations in a defense court filing made public Tuesday are 鈥渦nsworn, unsupported" hearsay and part of a last-ditch effort to undermine public confidence in the case.
Trump鈥檚 lawyers claimed in a letter to Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan that they had 鈥渆vidence of grave juror misconduct during the trial."
Details of the allegations were redacted and hidden from public view.
The defense letter, dated Dec. 3, was added to the public court docket on Tuesday along with two partially redacted responses from the Manhattan district attorney鈥檚 office, which prosecuted the hush money case, dated Dec. 5 and 9.
鈥淧artisan political motivations infected nearly every aspect of this Witch Hunt, including the jury room,鈥� Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said.
He accused Bragg and Merchan of allowing 鈥渢heir own personal political biases to fuel this charade鈥� and said 鈥渢hey should be ashamed of their inaction in refusing to investigate this serious matter, and allowing the grievous misconduct to occur.鈥�
鈥淚t is clear that there is more information that should come to light regarding misconduct, and those with knowledge of such information should come forward and do what is right,鈥� Cheung said, calling on the judge to dismiss the case immediately.
The development comes as Merchan is weighing a pending defense request to throw out the case in light of his impending return to the White House.
In their written responses, Manhattan prosecutors argued that Trump鈥檚 lawyers were trying to muddy the verdict by airing their claims in a letter to the judge rather than a formal motion to dismiss the case. Prosecutors also questioned the defense鈥檚 resistance to having Merchan hold a court hearing where their juror misconduct claims could be examined more thoroughly.
Trump鈥檚 lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, argued in their letter that such a hearing would involve 鈥渆xtensive, time-consuming, and invasive fact finding" and would interfere with the president-elect鈥檚 transition into office. Prosecutors wrote that by opposing a hearing, the defense was trying to force Merchan 鈥渢o accept their untested, unsworn allegations as true.鈥�
Merchan said in a separate letter Monday that he ordered the redactions both to preserve the integrity of the case and to ensure the safety of jurors, whose names have been kept private. Three of the letter鈥檚 seven pages were entirely covered in black ink.
Blanche and Bove鈥檚 letter 鈥渃onsists entirely of unsworn allegations,鈥� Merchan wrote.
Allowing them to be filed publicly without redactions 鈥渨ould only serve to undermine the integrity of these proceedings while simultaneously placing the safety of the jurors at grave risk,鈥� he wrote.
鈥淎llegations of juror misconduct should be thoroughly investigated,鈥� Merchan wrote. 鈥淗owever, this Court is prohibited from deciding such claims on the basis of mere hearsay and conjecture.鈥�
Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on to conceal a to porn actor to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which he denies. The payment was made shortly before the 2016 election.
On Monday, Merchan rejected Trump鈥檚 request to throw out the case on presidential immunity grounds, finding that the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 July 1 ruling granting the former president broad protection from prosecution did not require upending the case.
Trump鈥檚 immunity claim was just one of several efforts he and his lawyers have made to get his conviction overturned and the case dismissed.
After Trump won last month鈥檚 election, Merchan indefinitely postponed his late November sentencing so both sides could suggest next steps. that anything other than immediate dismissal would undermine the transfer of power and cause unconstitutional 鈥渄isruptions鈥� to the presidency.
proposed several alternatives.
They included: freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029; agreeing that any future sentence won鈥檛 include jail time; or treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies.
In the last scenario, borrowed from what some states do in such an occurrence, the case would be closed by noting that Trump was convicted but that he wasn鈥檛 sentenced and his appeal wasn鈥檛 resolved because he took office. Trump鈥檚 lawyers branded the concept 鈥渁bsurd.鈥� They also objected to the other suggestions.
Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. He鈥檚 the first former president to be convicted of a felony and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.
Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press
