Trump to argue he can’t be held responsible for hush money scheme because he acted on attorneys’ advice

Donald Trump has notified the judge overseeing his imminent criminal trial in New York City that he intends to rely on a legal strategy that pins responsibility for allegedly criminal acts on the advice of his attorneys.

The former president is expected to argue, at least in part, that he can’t be held responsible for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to an adult film star because he was acting on the advice of his lawyers.

But the notice from his attorneys on Tuesday claims that Mr Trump won’t make a “formal” use of what is typically called an “advice-of-counsel” defence.

Mr Trump won’t assert a “formal” advice-of-counsel defence that would have forced him to give up his attorney-client privilege and require him to disclose confidential communications or other privileged materials.

Instead, his lawyers argue that the former president “lacked the requisite intent to commit the conduct charged in the Indictment because of his awareness that various lawyers were involved in the underlying conduct giving rise to the charges,” they wrote to New York Judge Juan Merchan.

He intends to “elicit these facts” from witnesses at the trial, including his former attorney Michael Cohen, “whom we expect will testify about President Trump’s awareness of counsel’s involvement in the charged conduct,” according to Mr Trump’s attorneys Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles.

Jury selection for a criminal trial on charges connected to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election is scheduled for 25 March.

The trial is the first criminal proceeding against the former president – and the first ever against any former president – among the four criminal cases he faces in four