Authored by Jeffrey Sachs via CommonDreams.org, When a nation is very sick, we need multiple and overlapping remedies... America is a country of undoubted vast strengths—technological, economic, and cultural—yet its government is profoundly failing its own citizens and the world. Trump’s victory is very easy to understand. It was a vote against the status quo. Whether Trump will fix—or even attempt to fix—what really ails America remains to be seen. The rejection of the status quo by the American electorate is overwhelming. According to Gallup in October 2024, 52% of Americans said they and their families were worse off than four years ago, while only 39% said they were better off and 9% said they were about the same. An NBC national news poll in September 2024 found that 65% of Americans said the country is on the wrong track, while only 25% said that it is on the right track. In March 2024, according to Gallup , only 33% of Americans approved of Joe Biden’s handling of foreign affairs. At the core of the American crisis is a political system that fails to represent the true interests of the average American voter. The political system was hacked by big money decades ago, especially when the U.S. Supreme Court opened the floodgates to unlimited campaign contributions. Since then, American politics has become a plaything of super-rich donors and narrow-interest lobbies, who fund election campaigns in return for policies that favor vested interests rather than the common good. Two groups own the Congress and White House: super-rich individuals and single-issue lobbies. The world watched agape as Elon Musk, the world’s richest person (and yes, a brilliant entrepreneur and inventor), played a unique role in backing Trump’s election victory, both through his vast media influence and funding. Countless other billionaires chipped into Trump’s victory. Many (though not all) of the super-rich donors seeks special favors from the political system for their companies or investments, and most of those desired favors will be duly delivered by the Congress, the White House, and the regulatory agencies staffed by the new administration. Many of these donors also push one overall deliverable: further tax cuts on corporate income and capital gains. Many business donors, I would quickly add, are forthrightly on the side of peace and cooperation with China, as very sensible for business as well as for humanity. Business leaders generally want peace and incomes, while crazed ideologues want hegemony through war. There would have been precious little difference in all of this with a Harris victory. The Democrats have their own long list of the super-rich who financed the party’s presidential and Congressional campaigns. Many of those donors too would have demanded and received special favors. Tax breaks on capital income have been duly delivered by Congress for decades no matter their impact on the ballooning federal deficit, which now stands at nearly 7 percent of GDP, and no matter that the U.S. pre-tax national income in recent decades has shifted powerfully towards capital income and away from labor income. As measured by one basic indicator, the share of labor income in GDP has declined by around 7 percentage points since the end of World War II. As income has shifted from labor to capital, the stock market (and super-wealth) has soared, with the overall stock market valuation rising from 55% of GDP in 1985 to 200% of GDP today! The second group with its hold on Washingtons is single-issue lobbies. These powerful lobbies include the military-industrial complex, Wall Street, Big Oil, the gun industry, big pharma, big Ag, and the Israel Lobby. American politics is well organized to cater to these special interests. Each lobby buys the support of specific committees in Congress and selected national leaders to win control over public policy. The economic returns to special-interest lobbying are often huge: a hundred million dollars of campaign funding by a lobby group can win a hundred billion of federal outlays and/or tax breaks. This is the lesson, for example, of the Israel lobby, which spends a few hundred million dollars on campaign contributions, and harvests tens of billions of dollars in military and economic support for Israel. These special-interest lobbies do not depend on, nor care much about, public opinion. Opinion surveys show regularly that the public wants gun control, lower drug prices, an end of Wall Street bailouts, renewable energy, and peace in Ukraine and the Middle East. Instead, the lobbyists ensure that Congress and the White House deliver continued easy access to handguns and assault weapons, sky-high drug prices, coddling of Wall Street, more oil and gas drilling, weapons for Ukraine, and wars on behalf of Israel. These powerful lobbies are money-fueled conspiracies against the common good. Remember Adam Smith’s famous dictum in the Wealth of Nations (1776): "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices." The two most dangerous lobbies are the military-industrial complex (as Eisenhower famously warned us in 1961) and the Israel lobby (as detailed in a scintillating new book by historian Ilan Pappé). Their special danger is that they continue to lead us to war and closer to nuclear Armageddon . Biden’s reckless recent decision to allow U.S. missile strikes deep inside Russia, long advocated by the military-industrial complex, is case in point. The military-industrial complex aims for U.S. “full-spectrum dominance.” It’s purported solutions to world problems are wars and more wars, together with covert regime-change operations, U.S. economic sanctions, U.S. info-wars, color revolutions (led by the National Endowment for Democracy), and foreign policy bullying. These of course have been no solutions at all. These actions, in flagrant violation of international law, have dramatically increased U.S. insecurity. The military-industrial complex (MIC) dragged Ukraine into a hopeless war with Russia by promising Ukraine membership in NATO in the face of Russia’s fervent opposition, and by conspiring to overthrow Ukraine’s government in February 2014 because it sought neutrality rather than NATO membership. The military-industrial complex is currently—unbelievably—promoting a coming war with China. This will of course involve a huge and lucrative arms buildup, the aim of the MIC. Yet it will also threaten World War III or a cataclysmic U.S. defeat in another Asian war. While the Military-Industrial Complex has stoked NATO enlargement and conflicts with Russia and China, the Israel Lobby has stoked America’s serial wars in the Middle East. Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, more than any U.S. president, has been the lead promoter of America’s backing of disastrous wars in Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria. Netanyahu’s aim is to keep the land that Israel conquered in the 1967 war, creating what is called Greater Israel, and to prevent a Palestinian State. This expansionist policy, in contravention of international law, has given rise to militant pro-Palestinian groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Netanyahu’s long-standing policy is for the U.S. to topple or help to topple the governments that support these resistance groups. Incredibly, the Washington neocons and the Israel Lobby actually joined forces to carry out Netanyahu’s disastrous plan for wars across the Middle East. Netanyahu was a lead backer of the War in Iraq. Former Marine Commander Dennis Fritz has recently described in detail the Israel Lobby’s large role in that war. Ilan Pappé has done the same. In fact, the Israel Lobby has supported U.S.-led or U.S.-backed wars across the Middle East, leaving the targeted countries in ruins and the U.S. budget deep in debt. In the meantime, the wars and tax cuts for the rich, have offered no solutions for the hardships working-class Americans. As in other high-income countries , employment in U.S. manufacturing fell sharply from the 1980s onward as assembly-line workers were increasingly replaced by robots and “smart systems.” The decline in the labor share of value in the U.S. has been significant, and once again has been a phenomenon shared with other high-countries. Yet American workers have been hit especially hard. In addition to the underlying global technological trends hitting jobs and wages, American workers have been battered by decades of anti-union policies, soaring tuition and healthcare costs, and other anti-worker measures. In high-income countries of northern Europe, “social consumption” (publicly funded healthcare, tuition, housing, and other publicly provided services) and high levels of unionization have sustained decent living standards for workers. Not so in the United States. Yet this was not the end of it. Soaring costs of health care, driven by the private health insurers, and the absence of sufficient public financing for higher education and low-cost online options, created a pincer movement, squeezing the working class between falling or stagnant wages on the one side and rising education and healthcare costs on the other side. Neither the Democrats nor Republicans did much of anything to help the workers. Trump’s voter base is the working class, but his donor base is the super-rich and the lobbies. So, what will happen next? More of the same—wars and tax cuts—or something new and real for the voters? Trump’s purported answer is a trade war with China and the deportation of illegal foreign workers, combined with more tax cuts for the rich. In other words, rather than face the structural challenges of ensuring decent living standards for all, and face forthrightly the staggering budget deficit, Trump’s answers on the campaign trail and in his first term were to blame China and migrants for low working-class wages and wasteful spending for the deficits. This has played well electorally in 2016 and 2024, but will not deliver the promised results for workers in the long run. Manufacturing jobs will not return in large numbers from China since they never went in large numbers to China. Nor will deportations do much to raise living standards of average Americans. This is not to say that real solutions are lacking. They are hiding in plain view—if Trump chooses to take them, over the special interest groups and class interests of Trump’s backers. If Trump chooses real solutions, he would achieve a strikingly positive political legacy for decades to come. The first is to face down the military-industrial complex. Trump can end the war in Ukraine by telling President Putin and the world that NATO will never expand to Ukraine. He can end the risk of war with China by making crystal clear that the U.S. abides by the One China Policy, and as such, will not interfere in China’s internal affairs by sending armaments to Taiwan over Beijing’s objections, and would not support any attempt by Taiwan to secede. The second is to face down the Israel lobby by telling Netanyahu that the U.S. will no longer fight Israel’s wars and that Israel must accept a State of Palestine living in peace next to Israel, as called for by the entire world community. This indeed is the only possible path to peace for Israel and Palestine, and indeed for the Middle East. The third is to close the budget deficit, partly by cutting wasteful spending —notably on wars, hundreds of useless overseas military bases, and sky-high prices the government pays for drugs and healthcare—and partly by raising government revenues. Simply enforcing taxes on the books by cracking down on illegal tax evasion would have raised $625 billion in 2021, around 2.6% of GDP. More should be raised by taxation of soaring capital incomes. The fourth is an innovation policy (aka industrial policy) that serves the common good . Elon Musk and his Silicon Valley friends have succeeded in innovation beyond the wildest expectations. All kudos to Silicon Valley for bringing us the digital age. America’s innovation capacity is vast and robust and an envy of the world. The challenge now is innovation for what? Musk has his eye on Mars and beyond. Captivating, yet there are billions of people on Earth that can and should be helped by the digital revolution in the here and now. A core goal of Trump’s industrial policy should be to ensure that innovation serves the common good, including the poor, the working class, and the natural environment. Our nation’s goals need to go beyond wealth and weapons systems. As Musk and his colleagues know better than anybody, the new AI and digital technologies can usher in an era of low-cost, zero-carbon energy; low-cost healthcare; low-cost higher education; low-cost electricity-powered mobility; and other AI-enabled efficiencies that can raise real living standards of all workers. In the process, innovation should foster high-quality, unionized jobs—not the gig employment that has sent living standards plummeting and worker insecurity soaring. Trump and the Republicans have resisted these technologies in the past. In his first term, Trump let China take the lead in these technologies pretty much across the board. Our goal is not to stop China’s innovations, but to spur our own. Indeed, as Silicon Valley understands while Washington does not, China has long been and should remain America’s partner in the innovation ecosystem. China’s highly efficient and low-cost manufacturing facilities, such as Tesla’s Gigafactory in Shanghai, put Silicon Valley’s innovations into worldwide use ... when America tries. All four of these steps are within Trump’s reach, and would justify his electoral triumph and secure his legacy for decades to come. I’m not holding my breath for Washington to adopt these straightforward steps. American politics has been rotten for too long for real optimism in that regard, yet these four steps are all achievable, and would greatly benefit not only the tech and finance leaders who backed Trump’s campaign but the generation of disaffected workers and households whose votes put Trump back into the White House.MFOI Awards 2024: A Grand Celebration of Agricultural Excellence and Honoring of India’s Progressive Farmers Begins
California won’t aid Trump’s massive deportation plans because it legally can’t: senatorORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — In a season that began with many questions and lowered expectations , it was apt watching Bills quarterback Josh Allen join coach Sean McDermott lay on the cold, wet sideline to make snow angels in celebrating Buffalo’s earliest clinching of a division title in team history. That Allen took part was no surprise. The newly engaged 28-year-old has maintained the happy-go-lucky approach he brought with him to Buffalo as a raw-talented athlete in 2018, while gradually blossoming into one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks. For McDermott, it was a pleasant surprise to see the usually reserved eight-year coach finally let his hair down — figuratively, because the few jokes he does make are usually about being bald. With his latest do-it-all three-TD outing — one rushing, one receiving and, the coup de grace, being credited with receiving his own pass for a score off a lateral from Amari Cooper — in a 35-10 win over San Francisco on Sunday night , Allen continued making his strongest NFL MVP case. What’s also becoming apparent is how much McDermott deserves consideration for coach of the year honors. Without the two, the Bills (10-2) wouldn’t be in this position in becoming just the eighth NFL team — and first since Indianapolis in 2009 — to clinch a division title with at least five games remaining in their schedule. It’s reflective of how the two have grown together in what, on the outside, could be perceived as an odd couple relationship between an offensive-minded, swashbuckling quarterback and a defensive-minded coach, too often knocked for being too conservative. Perhaps, it’s Allen’s boyish nature that has brought out the risk-taker in McDermott, who has carried over the aggressive approach he takes to defense by placing trust in his quarterback. It’s become apparent in everything the Bills have accomplished so far in having at least 10 wins through 12 games for just the fifth time in team history, and first since 1991, when Buffalo was led by eventual Hall of Famers in coach Marv Levy and quarterback Jim Kelly. Buffalo has won seven straight since consecutive losses to Baltimore and Houston. And the Bills have scored 30 or more points in six straight outings, matching the team record set in 2004. Allen is doing more with less on an offense that was supposed to be hampered following the offseason departures of receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis and center Mitch Morse. The Bills are more balanced in leaning on their running attack, while Allen has also curtailed his turnover-prone ways. He's lost two fumbles and thrown just five interceptions after being picked off a career-worst 18 times last season. Meantime, McDermott has taken a different approach to fourth down situations. The Bills have converted 13 of 15 fourth down attempts after going 9 of 16 last season and 7 of 13 in 2022. The most fourth down attempts during McDermott’s tenure came in 2021, when Buffalo converted just 11 of 22. This is but an example of the bond the quarterback and coach have built in a shared objective of overcoming past playoff failures. Clinching a division title is but one step, with the Bills now focused on catching the Kansas City Chiefs (11-1), whom they’ve beaten already , for the AFC’s top seed. In calling it the team’s next goal, McDermott went off script from his usual game-at-a-time message by noting the importance of celebrating a division-clinching win, if only for one day. “Being 50 years old and 20-plus years in this league, I’ve learned to try and enjoy the moments,” McDermott said. “And this is a moment, right?” It certainly was. Turnover differential. Buffalo’s defense forced three fumbles, including one at its goal line, while the offense didn’t commit a giveaway. The Bills upped their league-leading turnover differential entering Monday to plus-17. Run defense. Though the conditions were snowy and slick, the Bills allowed 119 yards rushing in the first half before the 49ers were forced to start passing the ball once the score became lopsided. Buffalo particularly struggled in stopping Christian McCaffrey, who had 53 yards on seven carries before leaving the game with a potential season-ending knee injury . LB Matt Milano was in on five tackles while playing 37 of 48 defensive snaps in his first outing in nearly 14 months after being sidelined by a broken right leg and torn left biceps. CB Kaiir Elam, the 2022 first-round pick was a healthy inactive for a second straight outing, and still having difficulty finding a regular role. None reported. 9-0 — The Bills' home record going back to last season, marking their second-longest run in team history. Hit the road for two outings, starting with a trip to face the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
UCF coach Gus Malzahn reportedly resigning to take Florida State OC job
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Sunday, December 1, 2024 The Red Sea International Film Festival has announced a glittering roster of A-list stars and cinematic legends for its fourth edition, set to take place from December 5 to 14 in Jeddah’s Al Balad district. The festival’s lineup features renowned figures such as Spike Lee, Viola Davis, Eva Longoria, Michael Mann, and Kareena Kapoor Khan, promising an unparalleled celebration of global cinema. This year’s festival introduces a dynamic series of dialogue sessions designed to connect film enthusiasts, industry professionals, and fans with some of the most influential talents in the entertainment world. “We are proud to present an exceptional lineup of world-class speakers at our ‘Talent Market’ panel discussions,” said Jumana Rashed Al-Rashed, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Red Sea Film Foundation. “These stars, whose careers span both sides of the camera, have inspired generations of audiences and continue to shape the future of cinema.” The lineup includes an eclectic mix of award-winning artists and filmmakers from diverse backgrounds: Viola Davis, Oscar-winning actress and co-founder of JVL Media, known for her performances in Fences and The King’s Woman. Spike Lee, iconic filmmaker behind BlacKkKlansman and Da 5 Bloods, will lead a special mentoring panel for emerging filmmakers. Michael Mann, legendary director of Ferrari and Heat. Mona Zaki, acclaimed Egyptian actress from Flight 404 and Absher: The Swarm. Mohamed Sami, celebrated Egyptian writer-director of Arrest Warrant. Eva Longoria, award-winning actress known for Desperate Housewives and Only Murders in the Building. Andrew Garfield, star of The Social Network. Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bollywood icons with leading roles in Animal and The Buckingham Palace Murders, respectively. Engin Altan Duzyatan and Nurgul Yesilcay, Turkish stars from Resurrection: Ertugrul and Magnificent Century: Sultan Kosem. The festival’s new venue in Jeddah’s historic Al Balad district will provide an immersive backdrop for these interactive sessions, creating an inspiring space for cultural exchange and cinematic exploration. As the Red Sea International Film Festival continues to position itself as a global hub for the film industry, this year’s star-studded lineup highlights its commitment to fostering creativity, collaboration, and dialogue. From mentoring panels to engaging discussions, the event promises to elevate the region’s influence on the global cinematic stage.
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The Greens are blaming Anthony Albanese’s “ego” for a failure to strike a deal on his government’s signature housing bills. The government was set to bring on a vote on its Help to Buy and Build to Rent bills on Monday. They have been stalled in the Senate for months, with the Coalition vehemently opposed to them and the Greens saying they do not go far enough. The government on Sunday knocked back the Greens’ latest offering, claiming it was potentially unlawful and financially unviable. Greens senator Larissa Waters said the government had refused to engage on a deal “at every opportunity”. “We came back with what we thought was a really moderate offer which would still help about 60,000 people by just funding an additional 25,000 homes, and I’m incredulous that overnight we had the government say that they won’t even do that,” she told the ABC. “I think renters and people who are trying to (buy) their own home will be astounded that it seems like the Prime Minister’s ego is getting in the way of people having the homes that they need. “I can’t quite understand the psychology there.” The Greens have made multiple proposals to get Help to Buy and Build to Rent through the Senate, including action on rent freezes and caps, an end to tax concessions for property developers, and a government-owned property developer that would build homes to sell at just above the cost of construction. In their latest offer, the minor party wanted 25,000 shovel-ready homes immediately built that had not secured funding from the initial round of the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF). They also wanted the government to raise the number of rent-capped apartments in Built to Rent properties from 10 per cent to 30 per cent. But Housing Minister Clare O’Neil dismissed the Greens’ latest proposal as “unlawful and unworkable”, saying it was “yet another political stunt”. “One of the proposals put forward would have required me as minister to direct Housing Australia to fund homes that Housing Australia has looked at and decided not to fund, and that is against the law,” she told the ABC. “That is against the Housing Australia Act, so this is just one of a whole range of serious problems with what was put forward.” If passed, the Help to Buy Bill would allow first-home buyers to purchase a property under a shared equity scheme with the government. Simply, the government would foot up to 40 per cent of the funds for a new home and 30 per cent for an existing home. Meanwhile, Build to Rent aims to incentivise the construction of rent-only developments through tax benefits. The Senate knocked back the legislation earlier this year, sending it to an inquiry for further scrutiny. The bills are just two of dozens of items the government hopes to get through in the final sitting week of the year. Originally published as Grim future for key housing bills after hopes of Greens deal collapse
ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF coach Gus Malzahn is resigning after four seasons with the school. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the move, which will see Malzahn to leave to take the offensive coordinator job at Florida State. Malzahn previously worked with FSU coach Mike Norvell during their time at Tulsa under then-coach Todd Graham from 2007-08. The Knights ended a disappointing 4-8 season in which they lost eight of their last nine games, the longest losing streak since 2015. Malzahn, 59, was in the fourth year of a contract through 2028. His buyout, it is reported, would have been $13.75 million. He finished 27-25 at UCF but lost 16 of his last 22 games and was a dismal 4-14 in two seasons in the Big 12. After back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2021-22, the Knights went 6-7 in 2023 and 4-8 in 2024. This season started with high expectations as Malzahn made sweeping changes to the program. He retooled the strength and conditioning department and hired Ted Roof and Tim Harris Jr. as defensive and offensive coordinators, respectively. He also added nearly 50 new players to the roster, leaning heavily on the transfer market. UCF started by winning its first three games against New Hampshire, Sam Houston and a thrilling comeback at TCU, but offensive struggles saw the Knights tumble through a TBD-game losing streak to finish the season. Terry Mohajir hired Malzahn on Feb. 15, 2021, six days after he was hired to replace Danny White. The move came eight weeks after Malzahn had been fired at Auburn after eight seasons of coaching the Tigers. The two briefly worked together at Arkansas State in 2012 before Malzahn left for the Auburn job. “When he [Mohajir] offered the job, I was like, ‘I’m in.’ There wasn’t thinking about or talking about ...,” Malzahn said during his introductory press conference. “This will be one of the best programs in college football in a short time. This is a job that I plan on being here and building it.” UCF opened the 2021 season with non-conference wins over Boise State and Bethune-Cookman before traveling to Louisville on Sept. 17, where quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered a fractured collarbone in the final minute of a 42-35 loss. Backup Mikey Keene would finish out the season as Gabriel announced his intention to transfer. The Knights would finish the season on the plus side by accepting a bid to join the Big 12 Conference in September and then by defeating Florida 29-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl. Malzahn struck transfer portal gold in the offseason when he signed former Ole Miss quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. Plumlee, a two-sport star with the Rebels, helped guide UCF to the American Athletic Conference Championship in its final season. However, Plumlee’s injury forced the Knights to go with Keene and freshman Thomas Castellanos. The team finished with losses to Tulane in the conference championship and Duke in the Military Bowl. Plumlee would return in 2023 as UCF transitioned to the Big 12 but would go down with a knee injury in the final minute of the Knights’ 18-16 win at Boise State on Sept. 9. He would miss the next four games as backup Timmy McClain took over the team. Even on his return, Plumlee couldn’t help UCF, on a five-game losing streak to open conference play. The Knights got their first Big 12 win at Cincinnati on Nov. 4 and upset No. 15 Oklahoma State the following week, but the team still needed a win over Houston in the regular-season finale to secure a bowl bid for the eighth straight season. From the moment Malzahn stepped on campus, he prioritized recruiting, particularly in Central Florida. “We’re going to recruit like our hair’s on fire,” Malzahn said at the time. “We’re going to go after the best players in America and we’re not backing down to anybody.” From 2007 to 2020, UCF signed 10 four-star high school and junior college prospects. Eight four-star prospects were in the three recruiting classes signed under Malzahn. The 2024 recruiting class earned a composite ranking of 39 from 247Sports, the highest-ranked class in school history. The 2025 recruiting class is ranked No. 41 and has commitments from three four-star prospects. Malzahn has always leaned on the transfer market, signing 60 players over the past three seasons. Some have paid huge dividends, such as Javon Baker, Lee Hunter, Kobe Hudson, Tylan Grable, Bula Schmidt, Amari Kight, Marcellus Marshall, Trent Whittemore, Gage King, Ethan Barr, Deshawn Pace and Plumlee. Others haven’t been as successful, such as quarterback KJ Jefferson, who started the first five games of this season before being benched for poor performance. Jefferson’s struggles forced the Knights to play musical chairs at quarterback, with true freshman EJ Colson, redshirt sophomore Jacurri Brown and redshirt freshman Dylan Rizk all seeing action at one point or another this season. This season’s struggles led to several players utilizing the NCAA’s redshirt rule after four games, including starting slot receiver Xavier Townsend and kicker Colton Boomer, who have also entered the transfer portal. Defensive end Kaven Call posted a letter to Malzahn on Twitter in which he accused the UCF coaching staff of recently kicking him off the team when he requested to be redshirted. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Valante Capital, through Ascend Fund II, Acquires Strategic Stake in American FoodsAdvertisement Trump hopes to make his one criminal conviction disappear prior to his January 20 inauguration. He plans to argue in a filing Monday that he's immune from prosecution even now, as president-elect. Sentencing in the NY hush-money case has been indefinitely delayed by this latest dismissal bid. The US Supreme Court found in July that presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution. But is a president-elect also immune ? Advertisement In a filing due by day's end on Monday, lawyers for Donald Trump are poised to argue just that — that he's immune from prosecution right now . His hush-money case should therefore be immediately dismissed, and his 34 felony convictions wiped clean, his lawyers said last month that they plan to argue. "Just as a sitting President is completely immune from any criminal process, so too is President Trump as President-elect," Trump's legal team wrote the trial judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan in a letter dated November 19 . Advertisement Monday is the defense team's deadline for spelling out to Merchan why a pre-inaugural Trump cannot be sentenced and why the whole case must instead be tossed — as if a nearly seven-year investigation and prosecution by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office had never happened. Trump was convicted six months ago on 34 counts of falsifying business records throughout his first year in office in order to retroactively hide a hush-money payment that silenced porn actress Stormy Daniels 11 days before the 2016 election. "On November 5, 2024, the Nation's People issued a mandate that supersedes the political motivations of DANY's 'People,'" Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote to the judge on November 19, using the acronym for the District Attorney of New York. Advertisement "This case must be immediately dismissed," wrote Blanche and Bove, now nominated by Trump to be his deputy attorney general and principal associate deputy attorney general, respectively. Just how Trump leaps from presidential immunity to president-elect immunity has yet to be fleshed out. The legal precedents and federal regulations cited so far by Blanche and Bove bridge the gap indirectly, and lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have promised to fight the claim that such a thing as presidential-elect immunity even exists. Advertisement "We believe these arguments are incorrect," Bragg wrote in response to the November 19 defense letter. Bragg's letter promises to counter this latest bid to dismiss the case. Prosecutors are due to respond to Monday's expected defense filing in a week, by Monday, December 9. Only after the judge decides if the case is dismissed can Trump's sentencing — already postponed three times — be calendared or canceled. And even if Merchan calendars it, Trump's lawyers have promised to halt the sentencing by immediately appealing his decision through the federal court system — to SCOTUS if necessary. Advertisement Donald Trump at his hush-money trial in New York in April, with New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan on the bench. Jane Rosenberg/Pool Photo via AP The argument that a president-elect has immunity So why does Trump believe he enjoys presidential immunity from prosecution even now, as president-elect? Related stories Blanche and Bove first tipped their hand on their arguments in a November 8 letter to the judge — written just three days after the election. In the letter, they argue that presidents and presidents-elect are pretty much the same thing when it comes to enjoying legal protections from prosecution. The two lawyers quote from a 2000 Department of Justice memo barring the federal prosecution of sitting presidents (the same memo cited by special counsel Jack Smith in last week's move to dismiss Trump's two federal cases .) Advertisement "The same complete immunity from criminal process of any kind extends to a President-elect during the transition period," Blanche and Bove write, without elaborating on how DOJ policy would extend to a state prosecution like the hush-money case. "There is no material difference between President Trump's current status after his overwhelming victory in the national election and that of a sitting President following inauguration," the lawyers wrote. A second argument for special treatment of presidents-elect, made repeatedly by the two lawyers in the past month, draws on the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, which provides for the "orderly transfer of Executive powers." Advertisement "President Trump has already commenced this complex, sensitive, and intensely time-consuming process," the two lawyers wrote of the transition on November 8. Continuing with the hush-money case would "be uniquely destabilizing" and threaten to "hamstring the operation of the whole government apparatus," the two wrote on November 19. Donald Trump leaves the courtroom after being found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush money trial in Manhattan. Justin Lane-Pool/Getty Images In the furtherance of justice Trump's lawyers have also argued that the case should be dismissed under New York law, which allows an indictment to be dismissed "in furtherance of justice." Advertisement A so-called interest of justice dismissal would require Merchan to find "some compelling factor, consideration or circumstance" under which continuing a prosecution "would constitute or result in injustice." Merchan would be asked to weigh the strength and seriousness of the offense, the extent of the harm it caused, and the "history, character, and condition of the defendant." He would also have to weigh "the impact of a dismissal upon the confidence of the public in the criminal justice system." Advertisement Blanche and Bove did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story. A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA's office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Taylor Hall's fifth career hat trick leads Blackhawks over Stars 6-2