Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump previewed their argument for tossing out his New York hush money case based on his election victory in a two-page letter released Wednesday that asked for a Dec. 20 deadline to more fully spell out their arguments.

"On November 5. 2024, the Nation's People issued a mandate that supersedes the political motivations of (the Manhattan prosecutors)," the lawyers wrote. "This case must be immediately dismissed."

Trump was previously scheduled to be sentenced on his 34 felony convictions in the case Nov. 26. However, Judge Juan Merchan paused all deadlines following Trump's election victory, including the sentencing date.

When, if ever, Trump will be sentenced is very much an open question. On Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg urged Merchan to wipe the Nov. 26 sentencing date off the calendar, and even raised the question of whether sentencing should happen before Trump's next presidency ends.


In the new letter, Trump's legal team asked permission to file its more formal motion by Dec. 20 to call for the case's dismissal in order to facilitate the transfer of power following Trump's election victory.


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"Just as a sitting president is completely immune from any criminal process, so too is President Trump as President-elect," Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, whom Trump has tapped for Justice department positions in his next administration, wrote in the letter.


A 12-person jury convicted Trump on May 30 of falsifying business records 34 separate times to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Daniels has alleged she and Trump had a sexual encounter in 2006, a claim he denies.


If Judge Merchan agrees to Trump's proposed Dec. 20 deadline for the dismissal motion, prosecutors would likely respond before any decision from the judge. 


The proposed timeline leaves just a narrow window for any sentencing before Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2025. If Judge Merchan does schedule sentencing before that date, Trump will almost certainly appeal the scheduling decisio

n.