Judge Rejects Trump's Third Attempt to Move Hush-Money Case to Federal Court

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.

The New York indictment was one of four Trump faced in 2023, between his two terms as president.

The other indictments concerned allegations that Trump illegally withheld classified documents and attempted to undermine the 2020 elections, which he lost. Those cases were ultimately dropped after Trump won re-election in 2024.

Of the four indictments, only the New York case reached trial. While the felony convictions made Trump eligible for incarceration or a fine, Judge Juan Merchan ultimately sentenced the Republican leader to an unconditional discharge.

That meant he would face no jail time, nor a financial penalty, but the convictions would remain on his records. The sentencing came on January 10, 2025, just days before Trump’s second inauguration.

Trump has appealed his conviction in the years since the trial, and simultaneously has attempted to move the case to federal court, where he likewise hopes he can toss the charges.

As part of his appeal, Trump’s legal team has cited a July 2024 ruling from the Supreme Court, expanding the concept of presidential immunity.

Previously, presidents were shielded from prosecution for actions taken within their constitutional mandate. The 2024 decision broadened that scope to give presidents “presumptive immunity” for anything that could be considered an “official act”, an undefined concept.

Trump’s lawyers argued that, since the hush-money case presented evidence from his first term as president, it falls under that immunity.

Hellerstein has previously rejected that argument. In November, however, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Hellerstein to reconsider the case in light of the Supreme Court’s decision.

The appeals court, however, did not instruct Hellerstein how he should rule. In Friday’s decision, Hellerstein rejected implications from the Trump team that he would simply certify the appeals court ruling.

“Federal district courts are not certifying clerks,” the judge wrote.

Hellerstein also addressed the Supreme Court’s decision, ruling that Trump’s actions with regard to Daniels were not “official acts” of the presidency, even if some were taken while he was in office.

“There is no way that discussions regarding hush money payments to cover up the President’s relations with Stormy Daniels could be an official act. An affair, or a cover-up of an affair, is not within the ‘outer perimeter’ of the President’s official responsibilities,” Hellerstein wrote.