Donald Trump has filed a motion to dismiss the hush money case in which he was convicted due to his victory in the US presidential election.

In May, a New York jury found Mr Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to commit election fraud.

It was the first time a US president had been convicted of or charged with a criminal offence.

Mr Trump had tried to cover up “hush money” payments to a porn star in the days before the 2016 election.

When Stormy Daniels‘ claims of a sexual liaison threatened to upend his presidential campaign, Trump directed his lawyer to pay $130,000 (£102,000) to keep her quiet.

A judge delayed Mr Trump’s scheduled 26 November sentencing indefinitely last month to give him the chance to seek dismissal.

A dismissal would erase Mr Trump’s historic conviction, sparing him of a criminal record and possible prison sentence.

The judge could also decide to uphold the verdict and proceed to sentencing, delay the case until Mr Trump leaves office, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court or choose some other option.

The president-elect’s lawyers argue having the case loom over his four-year presidential term that begins on 20 January would cause “unconstitutional impediments” to his ability to govern.

Prosecutors have until 9 December to respond.

The filing references the pardon Joe Biden issued to his son on Monday, in which the president said Hunter Biden was “unfairly prosecuted” on gun and tax charges.

Mr Trump’s lawyers said: “President Biden argued that ‘raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice’. These comments amounted to an extraordinary condemnation of President Biden’s own DOJ [department of justice]”.

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The Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “has engaged in ‘precisely the type of political theatre’ that President Biden has condemned”, the filing added.

“This case is based on a contrived, defective, and unprecedented legal theory relating to 2017 entries in documents that were maintained hundreds of miles away from the White House where President Trump was running the country.”

The district attorney’s “disruptions to the institution of the presidency violate the presidential immunity doctrine because they threaten the functioning of the federal government,” the filing said.

The prosecutors’ “ridiculous suggestion that they could simply resume proceedings after President Trump leaves office, more than a decade after they commenced their investigation in 2018, is not an option,” the filing claimed.

Mr Trump’s lawyers also claimed the case should be thrown out because of his “extraordinary service” to the US, adding that his “civil and financial contributions to this city and the nation are too numerous to count”.

The president-elect has said he intends to nominate the lawyers who wrote the filing – Todd Blanche and Emil Bove – to top jobs in the justice department, which they criticise in the documents.

The unsolved killing of a six-year-old beauty pageant queen is still a priority for investigators, police have insisted.

JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family home in Colorado in 1996, a case revisited in a three-part Netflix series.

Her killer has never been found, and the police department for the city of Boulder refused to answer questions on Monday about any tips they’re investigating.

“It’s obvious that the Boulder Police Department wants to solve this case and the only reason is to bring justice to the victim,” they told Sky’s US partner network NBC News.

The force instead referred to a video statement shared by police chief Steve Redfearn, in which he said officers “would love nothing more than to bring justice to her memory”.

That statement was made on the day after Netflix released Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramset, which has renewed interest in the killing that made global headlines.

JonBenet was found on Boxing Day several hours after her mother Patsy called police about a ransom note that had been left behind.

The girl’s father John found her that afternoon and carried her upstairs, ruining the integrity of the crime scene and sparking criticism of the police force’s handling of the case.

Details of the crime and footage of JonBenet competing in pageants propelled the case into one of the highest-profile mysteries in the US.

“There are a number of things that people have pointed to throughout the years that could have been done better, and we acknowledge that is true,” Mr Redfearn said last week.

“However, it is important to emphasise that while we cannot go back to that horrible day in 1996, our goal is to find JonBenet Ramsey’s killer.

“Our commitment to that has never wavered.”

While the girl’s family lived under a cloud of suspicion for years, prosecutors apologised to her parents and brother in 2008 and cleared them of any involvement.

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The Netflix series doesn’t point the finger at anyone, but does highlight her father’s hope new DNA testing might solve the case.

JonBenet’s mother died of cancer in 2006 aged 49.

A missing woman, whose dad took his own life after failing to find her, disappeared voluntarily, police have said.

Hannah Kobayashi, 30, missed a connecting flight from Hawaii to New York in Los Angeles on 8 November and vanished days later after sending “alarming” texts to her family.

Her father Ryan retraced her footsteps with relatives and volunteers, but was found dead in a car park near a Los Angeles airport on 24 November.

Overnight, police said Hannah wanted to “step away from modern connectivity” and was last seen crossing into Mexico with her luggage.

Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell said there was no evidence Hannah was trafficked or a victim of a crime and classified her disappearance as a “voluntary missing person”.

“We’ve basically done everything we can do at this point. She’s left the country and is in another nation now,” he said, adding she has a right to privacy but should contact her family.

“A simple message could reassure those who care about her.”

The case will remain active until her safety is confirmed and they will be notified if she returns to the US, he said.

Hannah had been seen around Los Angeles, police said, and had asked or her luggage to be sent back to her from New York – picking it up from the airport on 11 November and leaving without her phone.

Investigators found she “expressed the desire to step away from modern connectivity”.

Officers have questioned a man Hannah was seen with on a train, describing him as “cooperative”.

Last week, detectives determined Hannah missed her connecting flight intentionally, though her sister, Sydni, disputed his statement in a social media post.

CCTV images reviewed by police showed her walking alone and unharmed through a tunnel in San Ysidro, 125 miles southwest of Los Angeles, at midday on 12 November.

It comes after Hannah’s family said they started to receive “strange and cryptic, just alarming” texts from her before she disappeared.

These messages referenced her being “intercepted” as she got on a train and being scared someone was trying to steal her identity.

Her aunt Larie Pidgeon said “she went dark” once the family “started pressing”.

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Sky News US partner network NBC News reported one of the texts received by Hannah’s family read: “I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved.”

Shortly after the message was sent, her father flew out to Los Angeles from Hawaii to search for her for 13 days.

The family said his loss ” compounded the family’s suffering immeasurably”.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.