Judge denies Trump request to move New York hush money case to federal court
A judge has denied former President Trump's request to move his New York hush money criminal case from state court to federal court, citing a U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision.
U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein said there was nothing in the high court's presidential immunity ruling that alters his view that private payments to an adult film star are not related to a president's official acts.
He previously said that Trump’s reimbursement to Michael Cohen, his former lawyer who facilitated hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, were not official acts he made as president.
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"My holding of a hush money reimbursement remains true regardless of who has the burden, whether the People or Mr. Trump," Hellerstein wrote in his decision. "Nothing in the Supreme Court's decision affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority."
The Supreme Court’s 2023 immunity decision restricts prosecutors from pointing to official acts as evidence that a president’s unofficial actions were illegal. Trump's lawyers have argued that jurors in the hush money case should not have heard such evidence as former White House staffers describing how the then-president reacted to news coverage of the Daniels deal.
Trump was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a 2016 deal to pay off Daniels to stay quiet about her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with him. Prosecutors said the payout was part of an effort to keep voters from hearing salacious stories about him during his first presidential campaign.
Trump has denied the allegations and has cast his prosecution as a political witch hunt intended to damage his current White House bid.
"There should be no sentencing in this Election Interference Witch Hunt. As mandated by the United States Supreme Court, this case, along with all of the other Harris-Biden Hoaxes, should be dismissed," Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "President Trump and his legal team will continue to fight to move this Hoax into federal court where it should be put out of its misery once and for all."
Trump has also accused New York Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the case, of having a conflict of interest, and has claimed he is biased against him. He cited Merchan's daughter, Loren Merchan, who has supported Democratic political candidates.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sent an Aug. 30 letter to Merchan saying that Trump's request to move his New York criminal case to federal court should wait until after the judge rules on the motion to vacate because of presidential immunity and the request to delay sentencing.
"We note that the concerns defendant expresses about timing are a function of his own strategic and dilatory litigation tactics," the letter states.
Merchan is expected to rule on the motion on Sept. 16.