Former President Donald Trump’s legal team has filed what they are calling a “powerhouse” appeal in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s high-profile case, urging New York’s appellate court to throw out the verdict and dismiss what they describe as “the most politically charged prosecution in our Nation’s history.”
The 111-page appeal, obtained by Fox News Digital, was submitted late Monday night to the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division. Trump’s legal defense is led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr. of Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the nation’s top law firms.
Trump, who pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts of falsifying business records, was found guilty in May 2025 after a six-week criminal trial in Manhattan—the first of its kind against a former U.S. president. The case, formally New York v. Trump, is now on hold until 2029 as the appellate process unfolds.
“President Trump’s legal team filed a powerhouse appeal in the Manhattan DA’s Witch Hunt, as the President continues his fight to put an end to the Radical Democrat Lawfare once and for all,” a spokesman for the president’s legal team told Fox News Digital.
“The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the Federal and New York State Constitutions, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately overturned and dismissed,” the spokesman continued.
“President Trump will keep defeating Democrat weaponization at every turn as he focuses on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.”
Context: Accusations of Political Motivation
Since bringing the charges, Bragg—a Democrat who campaigned on holding Trump “accountable”—has faced sharp criticism from conservatives and legal analysts who argue that his case represents the politicization of the justice system. Critics say Bragg’s pursuit of Trump over bookkeeping entries stretches the bounds of state law and was designed to damage the Republican frontrunner ahead of the 2024 election.
The case centered on allegations that Trump falsified business records related to payments made in 2016. Bragg’s decision to elevate what would typically be misdemeanor bookkeeping charges to felonies was widely viewed by Trump supporters as a legal overreach motivated by partisan politics.
Trump’s allies have consistently framed the prosecution as part of a broader “witch hunt” by Democratic officials, pointing to multiple cases against him in different jurisdictions led by Democratic prosecutors. They argue that these prosecutions are part of an ongoing “lawfare” campaign intended to interfere with his political comeback.
With the appeal now before the appellate division, Trump’s legal team is expected to press arguments rooted in constitutional protections, prosecutorial misconduct, and recent Supreme Court rulings that reaffirm presidential immunity for official acts.
If successful, the appeal could not only overturn Trump’s conviction but also set a significant precedent curbing the ability of state prosecutors to pursue politically charged cases against current or former presidents.
Read the full appeal below:
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