New York [US], August 30: United States President Donald Trump has once again lost a bid to transfer his criminal hush-money case from state to federal court, in a bid to have his felony conviction dropped.
On Friday, Judge Alvin Hellerstein declined Trump's petition for a third time, ruling that the president's arguments were "neither new nor legally sufficient". Trump became the first US president to be convicted of a crime in 2024, when a New York City jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Prosecutors had argued that Trump attempted to conceal hush-money payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, to avoid negative attention during his 2016 presidential bid. Trump, however, has maintained that his conviction should be tossed, given a 2024 Supreme Court decision expanding presidential immunity. But Hellerstein once again rejected that argument.
"Paying hush money to an adult film star or engaging in a cover-up of an embarrassment are not subsumed in presidential immunity," Hellerstein wrote.
Trump's lawyers have already announced they would appeal, denouncing Hellerstein's judgement as "baseless and lawless".
"President Trump will be filing a powerful appeal, and will continue defeating Democrat weaponization at every turn," a statement from Trump's team said. The case centres on a $130,000 payment Trump allegedly made through his fixer, Michael Cohen, to buy Daniels's silence, after she claimed she had an affair with the Republican leader while he was married. Trump has denied any sexual liaison with Daniels.
Falsifying business records in New York is normally a misdemeanour, but it can be charged as a felony when committed in service of another crime. In the hush-money case, prosecutors claimed Trump had sought to unlawfully influence the 2016 election, which he ultimately won.
Source: Qatar Tribune