US President-elect Donald Trump's attorneys sought to dismiss his historic criminal fraud conviction in a new filing released Tuesday, December 3 – arguing President Joe Biden used similar reasoning to pardon his son, Hunter Biden.

The Democratic lame-duck president pardoned his son Sunday after Hunter was convicted earlier this year of tax evasion and illegally possessing a firearm, arguing he was "selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted" by the Department of Justice (DOJ) "only because he is my son."

Trump's motion to dismiss, filed Monday, saw his legal team cite the arguments used by Biden to make their own case to presiding judge Juan Merchan.

Biden's "comments amounted to an extraordinary condemnation of President Biden's own DOJ," the letter's introduction reads. "This is the same DOJ that coordinated and oversaw the politically-motivated, election-interference witch hunts targeting President Trump."

The 69-page brief also invoked the doctrine of presidential immunity – which the Supreme Court has ruled extends to "official acts" while president -- and the Presidential Transition Act, among other laws, to "immediately dismiss the Indictment and vacate the jury's verdicts."

Trump, 78, was found guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records from covering up the payment of $130,000 to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels to silence her from coming forward about an alleged extramarital affair during the final stretch of the 2016 election campaign.

Merchan, the judge in the only criminal case against Trump that has gone to trial, indefinitely postponed Trump's sentencing at a hearing on November 22, given his win in the November 5 presidential election.

With Trump's defense team filing to dismiss the case, Merchan will now have to decide whether to throw out the case entirely or to suspend any legal consequences until after the end of Trump's upcoming term in office, which will begin on January 20.

Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg has supported the latter in light of the "unprecedented circumstances" caused by Trump's electoral victory.

Bragg had argued during the hush money trial that Trump's payments were made to cover up a scandal that would have tarnished his campaign in the 2016 election that Trump ended up winning over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Trump has consistently denied having an affair with Daniels.

'As if it never occurred'

Meanwhile, a federal judge dismissed the gun case against Hunter Biden on Tuesday after President Biden issued the sweeping pardon for his son.

US District Judge Maryellen Noreika closed the case the week before Hunter Biden was to be sentenced. He could have faced up to 25 years in prison, though as a first-time offender he likely would have gotten far less time or avoided prison entirely.

Prosecutors opposed dismissing the case, arguing in court documents that a pardon shouldn't wipe away the case "as if it never occurred." Hunter Biden was convicted on three felonies after he lied on a federal form to purchase a gun in Delaware by saying he wasn’t a drug user in 2018, a period when he has acknowledged being addicted.

The Justice Department special counsel is also opposed to dismissing a case filed in California after Hunter Biden failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes. US District Judge Mark Scarsi in Los Angeles indicated he would dismiss the case once the pardon is formally received. Still, Scarsi was critical of the president's assertion that his son was singled out for political reasons, saying two judges had rejected similar arguments from his defense attorneys.

The president's Sunday decision to go back on previous pledges and issue his son a blanket federal pardon for actions over the past 11 years has sparked a political uproar in Washington, drawing criticism from many Democrats as well as Republicans and threatening to cloud Biden’s legacy as he prepares to leave office on Jan. 20.

Hunter Biden was originally supposed to strike a plea deal with prosecutors last year that would have spared him prison time, but the agreement fell apart after Noreika questioned unusual aspects of it.