Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen calls for New York case to be dismissed

Former lawyer and fixer for President-elect Donald Trump Michael Cohen, who testified against Trump during the New York trial that convicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business documents, has now called for the charges to be dismissed.

"The American people have spoken and re-elected Donald Trump," Cohen wrote in an email to Vanity Fair.

"Accordingly, I believe we must all acknowledge and respect the office of the Presidency and dismiss the case forthwith."

Trump's lawyers are pushing Judge Juan Merchan to drop the charges as well.

Dismissal "mandated"

Among the arguments made by the lawyers is that "'immediate dismissal is mandated by the 'federal Constitution, the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and the interest of justice."

Dismissal is necessary to ensure an "orderly transition of power," they also argued.

While the Daily Mail said in its coverage of Cohen's comments that Trump is the first "convicted felon" to be president, this is not accurate.

Trump is not a convicted felon until he is sentenced, according to legal experts including Yale Law Professor Jed Rubenfeld.

“You are not convicted until the judge enters that judgment of guilt," Rubenfeld said, adding that this doesn't happen until sentencing.

Delay, possibly forever

Sentencing in the case was supposed to happen later this month, but prosecutors asked Merchan to delay it until Trump's motion to dismiss is heard, or potentially until Trump leaves office.

“Given the need to balance competing constitutional interests, consideration must be given to various non-dismissal options that may address any concerns raised by the pendency of a post-trial criminal proceeding during the presidency, such as deferral of all remaining criminal proceedings until after the end of Defendant’s upcoming presidential term,” the filing said.

Many experts think it's unlikely Trump will ever be sentenced in the case.

It was an obvious attempt at lawfare that failed with Trump's election. At this point, the whole thing is moot.

There's no doubt that Democrats will try to take Trump down in every way they possibly can, but this attempt, at least, doesn't seem like it's going to succeed.