Trump Calls for Dismissal of Stormy Daniels Conviction, Citing Hunter Biden’s Presidential Pardon

Donald Trump’s legal team, describing President Joe Biden’s recent remarks as “a condemnation of his own Department of Justice,” argued on Tuesday for the dismissal of the Republican’s historic criminal conviction in the Stormy Daniels case.

Invoking the presidential pardon Joe Biden granted his son Hunter, Trump officially petitioned the New York court to nullify his conviction. According to court documents released on December 3, the former and potentially future 47th president of the United States seeks to overturn the May verdict that found him criminally guilty of concealing payments to silence an adult film actress before the 2016 election—allegations Trump has consistently denied.

A Long-Disputed Case

Trump has repeatedly dismissed the allegations as a “sham,” accusing Democrats of weaponizing the justice system against him. His sentencing has been delayed several times, with his legal team employing every possible avenue to challenge the ruling.

Hunter Biden’s Pardon: A Focal Point

In a 70-page court filing unveiled Tuesday, Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove—both tapped for leadership roles in Trump’s anticipated next Department of Justice—called for an immediate dismissal of the indictment and jury verdict.

The legal motion referenced a dramatic turn of events from the prior evening: President Joe Biden’s unexpected decision to pardon his son Hunter on Sunday. The younger Biden had been convicted in separate cases of illegal firearm possession and tax fraud.

This decade-long pardon, granted even before Hunter’s sentences were issued, has sparked outrage among Republicans and unease among Democrats.

“In issuing a ten-year pardon for Hunter Biden covering any of his crimes or offenses—whether prosecuted or not—President Biden asserted his son had been ‘singled out, unfairly accused,’ and ‘treated differently,'” the filing argues, quoting Biden’s description of the ordeal as an “injustice.”

A Blow to the DOJ’s Credibility?

Blanche and Bove further contend that Biden’s comments represent a direct repudiation of his own Justice Department, which they claim “coordinated and supervised the political witch hunt and election interference against President Trump.”

With multiple legal battles behind him—including one federal conviction and two civil judgments—Trump’s judicial prospects have notably shifted. His reelection and a landmark Supreme Court ruling on July 1 expanded the scope of presidential immunity, resulting in the dismissal of at least two federal criminal cases against him.

The Stormy Daniels case now represents one of the most significant unresolved legal hurdles in Trump’s quest for a political comeback.